• Dataplor collects data from businesses without a digital footprint to then make this available to interested players, like on-demand startups.
• Specialized in emerging markets, the company so far operates in Mexico and Brazil

First launched in Mexico, Dataplor is a young company seeking to bring small local businesses closer to the digital era. A platform that gathers, verifies, and then provides data from these small companies to players wanting to do business in the region, the startup has recently raised a third round of seed funding, so far reaching, $2 million in capital.

According to the company, they specialize in emergent markets – specifically Latin America – at least for now. Unlike other more developed markets, where local, small companies are more likely to have a digital presence, in emerging markets this is a real gap. Whereas on-demand apps such as iFood and Rappi are thriving in the region, there are still plenty of local companies that can’t be found, due to a lack of – or weak – presence on Google index.

This is the case of Mexico, where “80% of Mexican businesses don’t have any digital footprint, and less than 5% of businesses have a website,” said Geoffrey Michener, founder and CEO of Dataplor, to TechCrunch. The 13-person company was set up to address these related issues by literally going outside, knocking on these local businesses doors’, and collecting data (address, hours of operation shift, menu changes, etc). The step following is licensing this information to companies that might have interest on that. Meaning: Google, Apple, Uber, and so on.

Despite the small staff and young age, the company has already expanded to Brazil – Latin America’s first and foremost competitive economy and plans to move forward to Chile, Peru, and Colombia, still in 2019.