(Press Release) FormaFina is a cross-border curated marketplace for premium fashion and home accessories for Latin American consumers. Founded in 2010, FormaFina has operations in Brazil and Colombia and it is now launching its office to reach the Mexican market.
The company found an unattended market. Since it started operations, it has become a means for Latin-American consumers to access aspirational premium products that cannot be found locally, through an online platform that solves the importation, shipping and processes costs. For US-based brands, the company has a valuable proposition as an efficient means of reaching unattended markets due to a lack of organizational bandwidth or access to cross-border distributors or retailers. The cross-dock/cross-border combination allows FormaFina to be clearly differentiated from classic e-commerce or flash sales competitors, who generally offer locally-available products or focus on prices. In its recent years of operations, it has reported a strong traction. As of February 2015, the company had reached nearly half a million registered users.
The company has captivated a wide array of investors’ interest. Recently, it closed a $3.5 million dollar round of funding by rapidly adhering 500 Startups, NXTP Labs and South Ventures strengthening its ties to Silicon Valley. “Along with a strong base of angel investors, we have been fortunate to secure the main Venture Capital funds in each of the countries we operate in. RedPoint and Velum Ventures’ have been key to the expansion of the company in Brazil and Colombia. Now, ALLVP adds up as our strategic partner in Mexico”, mentioned Nima Pourshasb, Founder and CEO of FormaFina Global.
In Mexico, the premium e-commerce market shows promising trends with a reported growth of 20% between 2012 and 2013, while the housewares and home furnishing segment has reported a strong a constant rate of 33.7% between 2008 and 2013. The total market averaged US$ 9.2bn in 2013 (+38% vs 2012) and is expected to reach an estimated US$ 13bn. Additionally, the Mexican e-consumer habits show favorable trends with over half of its e-consumers’ shopping going to overseas websites. Cross-border ecommerce has traditionally been developed by close integration with the US and NAFTA agreement, and by tourism, which is a strong driver for ecommerce adoption in Mexico. In 2013, while the North American e-commerce market grew 13.7%, Latin American, was the fastest growing region with more than 36.3% compared to 2012.
“Nima Pourshasb has demonstrated to have extensive start-up experience with ample expertise on monetization and e-commerce optimization. Also, we have built a fruitful team and trust that FormaFina’s proposition will be well managed and will become a highly scalable global platform”, mentioned Federico Antoni, Managing Partner of ALLVP.