Mercado Libre's first round of fundraising was 278 million, exceeding expectations!

According to the latest news from foreign media, Latin American e-commerce Mercado Libre and its joint venture Kaszek raised US$287 million through their initial public offering when the Nasdaq Stock Exchange opened, US$37 million more than previously expected.

Kaszek is a venture capital fund founded in 2011 and headquartered in Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, that mainly invests in technology-based companies.

In addition to e-commerce, Mercado Libre has also created its own logistics network and payment solutions, and can be said to have the largest online commerce and payment ecosystem in Latin America. In the second quarter of 2021, the platform had 37.8 million independent buyers, of which the Brazilian market still accounted for the majority, with GMV increasing by more than 40% over the previous year, with more than 125 million items sold this quarter and 1.7 million orders delivered daily.

The platform's sales reached $21 billion in 2020, with 18.3 million new sellers. The above data is expected to usher in new growth by the end of this year.

Mercado Libre is very optimistic about the potential of Latin America (a region with a population of 635 million and the fastest growing Internet penetration rate in the world), and believes that by providing online commerce and payment tools, it can promote local entrepreneurship and social mobility. Indeed, as the company envisions, the continuous development of e-commerce platforms has provided more employment opportunities for local people.

Recently, Mercado Livre also released its second transparency report in Latin America. According to the report, about 9 million ads that violated Mercado Livre's rules were reviewed in the region in the first half of the year, and 95.5% of the illegal content was automatically detected by the platform.

It is worth noting that the platform is also the first Latin American company to adopt such transparency and accountability to its users and markets. The report is submitted every six months and mainly covers four aspects: information requirements, product safety and quality, intellectual property protection, and privacy protection. Through transparent information disclosure, it will help the platform further improve its credibility.

It is reported that the funds raised this time will be used for the subsequent development plans of its startup company.

Mercado Libre

Equity offering