Clubbi, a Brazilian one-stop-shop for “small grocers” to stock up in a simple and fast way, raised a $12 million (about BRL 62 million) Series A round, co-led by NFX and ALLVP, and followed by Valor Capital Group, ONEVC, and Better Tomorrow Ventures.
The fundraising comes just six months after Clubbi’ Seed round of $4.5 million. Between one round and another, the startup founded in 2020 by Marcos Adler, João Macedo, and Alexandre Farber, reported a growth of more than 25% per month and doubled its customer base, reaching almost 2,500 retailers.
These figures illustrate the growing demand for B2B solutions aimed at small-and-medium-sized businesses, Clubbi’s target audience. The company connects suppliers to neighborhood markets and grocery stores through an online commerce platform where retailers can buy everything their stores need in just one place, with competitive prices and 24-hour delivery, split orders with no minimum quantity, and payment by installments and credit card.
The solution digitizes and thus promises to simplify a supply chain that is closely tied to the traditional door-to-door sales. According to Clubbi, its value proposal is to increasingly insert the online virtual purchasing method into the day-to-day of the merchant, offering a leaner stock proposal through constant replacements and optimizing the use of working capital.
“The supply of “small grocers” is in a process of accelerated digitization. This step is fundamental for the supply chain to reach a new level of efficiency that will benefit all players involved and, especially, the final consumer,” said Adler, Clubbi’s CEO.
The newly raised capital will enable improvements and the expansion of the portfolio for the “small grocers” and accelerate the development of new partnerships and solutions for the consumer goods industry. The company’s goal is to reach more than 15,000 retailers in 10 Brazilian cities by the end of 2023.
Future fintech
In order to expand throughout Brazil and turn itself into a major player in retail supply in Brazil, Clubbi wants to launch a fintech arm to offer financial services, such as credit and payment solutions, to small retailers. Part of the funds will be used to develop these products.
According to Adler, this is one of the biggest advantages of B2B marketplaces, as they offer credit at the most opportune moment: the purchase. “Better conditions and term options when buying groceries help our customers optimize their cash flow, solving one of their main challenges. So, offering financial solutions further enhances our value proposition as a partner company to the marketplaces,” explained Adler.
Pete Flint, general partner at NFX, said that in the next five years, B2B platforms and marketplaces, such as Clubbi, will lead to important changes in this market. “Between their fast-growing customer base and experienced founding team, Clubbi is set to modernize a huge, highly fragmented and essential part of the economy.”
