LAVCA VC
  • News Feed
  • VC Data
  • Directories
  • Features
  • Tech Growth Coalition
  • LAVCA Gender Diversity
  • Engage
    • VC Council
    • VC Members
  • LAVCA
  • Member Login
  • Member Access

LAVCA VC

  • News Feed
  • VC Data
  • Directories
  • Features
  • Tech Growth Coalition
  • LAVCA Gender Diversity
  • Engage
    • VC Council
    • VC Members
  • LAVCA

The State of Ecommerce in Latin America: Interview with olist CEO Tiago Dalvi

November 23, 2020
Interview with Olist Founder Tiago Dalvi

Company: olist

Investors: SoftBank Latin America Fund, Valor Capital, Peninsula, VELT Partners, FJ Labs, Redpoint eventures, 500 Startups

Interview with: Founder and CEO Tiago Dalvi

olist, a Brazilian ecommerce platform for small retailers, recently raised a R$310m Series D led by SoftBank’s Latin America Fund, with follow-on from Valor Capital, Peninsula, VELT Partners, FJ Labs, and angel Kevin Efrusy. SoftBank led a R$190m round in 2019. Along with the financing announcement, olist confirmed the acquisition of Clickspace, a Brazilian ecommerce  platform for small retailers to launch their own marketplaces.

olist, with over 90,000 clients in more than 165 countries, is capitalizing on the acceleration of ecommerce adoption caused by C19. LAVCA interviewed olist Founder and CEO Tiago Dalvi on the current state of local ecommerce and the opportunity for retailers in the space to further integrate fintech and logistics services into their value chain.

LAVCA: What is the origin story behind launching olist in 2014? 

Tiago Dalvi: I started my entrepreneurial journey very early by managing a small brick-and-mortar retail store. During my time there, the first thing I realized was how hard it was to drive traffic to my shop. Demand generation wasn’t something trivial, and most people were already used to shopping in large retailers like Walmart. With that in mind, I figured that the solution to my problems would be to have a physical space inside one of these high-traffic shopping centers.

After launching Solidarium, an online crafts marketplace, I realized that the issue wasn’t creating a two-way marketplace or attempting to have the greatest variety of products available, but to generate the right exposure for the products already on the platform. That’s when we pivoted and launched olist.

At that point, it became very clear that connecting a merchant to high-demand liquidity sources was only step one. The second step was making sure we had the highest exposure within these marketplaces. The third step was simplifying the very complex process for merchants to have access to our services with the push of a button, regardless of their size. 

At that time, most merchants didn’t know how to succeed online, nor did they know how to expand their businesses digitally. olist became the easiest and most effective way to grow their sales, and that put us on the map. 

What is the current appetite of local investors to finance new hyperlocal ecommerce opportunities?

There is a very strong interest, and for a good reason: Latin America is going through an ecommerce consolidation phase. We’re seeing the main markets like Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia solidifying their ecommerce presence, despite still having quite a fragmented market. At the same time, ecommerce penetration is still small when compared to more mature markets such as the UK, China, or the US.

The recent pandemic not only led to new opportunities and demand for much faster logistic services, but it also created demand for local shops going through radical digitization. Businesses that would have otherwise remained physical-only were forced to develop a much active digital presence, in order to cater to local customers. 

How do you think about adjacent market opportunities, especially in relation to the natural connection between ecommerce and fintech and logistic services?

We view olist as the future operating system for modern commerce. We believe that as we continue to grow, it will only be natural to expand into other services that are aligned with our mission of empowering commerce. For us, it is very clear that logistics, through Olist Shipping, and financial services, through Olist Pay, are natural extensions of our ecosystem in order to better serve our current and future clients.

How are you thinking about your growth strategy after the acquisition of Clickspace?

We’re continuously looking to expand our ecosystem and product offerings. Ideally, we’ll always look at opportunities with a Build-Buy-Partner approach. With the example of Clickspace, the synergies between their product and ours made it an obvious acquisition to accelerate some of our strategic product offerings. We were also partners with them for more than a year, which facilitated the move and integration.

How will olist capitalize on the current momentum brought by C19?

C19 has put digital commerce into a new gear. We’re fully aware of the impact it has made and the light it has shone on ecommerce and digital strategies.

Our strategy is to continue to improve our products at a much faster pace, to better serve our addressable market and continue to empower our users and give them new opportunities to succeed. We don’t see the market slowing down post-C19, so we know we have to keep pushing hard. 

We have reached a “new normal” when it comes to ecommerce in Latin America, and it is here to stay.

The State of Ecommerce in Latin America: Interview with olist CEO Tiago Dalvi was last modified: November 25th, 2020 by cramos
500 StartupsBrazilClickspaceeCommerceFJ LabsKevin EfrusyOlistPeninsulaRedpoint eVenturesSoftbankSolidariumTiago DalviValor CapitalVelt PartnersVenture Capital
0
Facebook Twitter Google +

MADE POSSIBLE WITH SUPPORT FROM

LAVCA’s gender diversity research is made possible with support from IDB LAB, Member of the IDB Group. Access information about WeXchange, a forum hosted by IDB LAB that connects high growth women entrepreneurs in LatAm with investors and mentors.

Methodology

This list includes 114 senior-level women investment professionals who are deploying capital in early and growth stage tech deals in Latin America, as well as notable women angels investing over USD50k across multiple deals in the region in the past two years. All investors were vetted for inclusion by LAVCA Research.

Every year since 2016, LAVCA solicits nominations of top women investors in tech from the investment community. The inaugural list included 37 investors; the 2017 list added eight new investors. In 2018, complementing the peer nomination process, LAVCA reviewed the investment teams of all active Latin American VC funds, producing a list of 82 senior-level and 47 mid- and junior-level investment professionals. In 2019, those numbers jumped to 88 and 87, respectively, and increased to 103 and 97 during 2020.

NOMINATE AN INVESTOR

This list is not exhaustive; if you know of a junior- or mid-level investment professional working on Latin American tech deals who should be on this list, contact [email protected].

TOP WOMEN INVESTING IN LATIN AMERICAN TECH

LAVCA’s companion list of Top Women Investors in Latin American Tech includes 114 senior-level women investment professionals who are deploying capital in early and growth stage tech deals.

About LAVCA

 

LAVCA is the Association for Private Capital Investment in Latin America, a not-for-profit membership organization dedicated to supporting the growth of private capital in Latin America and the Caribbean through research, education, networking and advocacy.

LAVCA Office

    New York City:
    589 8th Ave, 18th Floor
    New York, NY 10018

Explore LAVCA.org

  • About LAVCA
  • Board, Team, & Advisors
  • Media
  • Contact Us
  • Membership Benefits
  • Members Only Access
  • Education and Programs
  • Research
  • Policy
  • LAVCA VC
  • Contact Us

@2020 - LAVCA. All Rights Reserved.


Back To Top