E-commerce company Etsy announced it had acquired the Brazilian marketplace Elo7, e-commerce focused on exclusive and handcrafted items. For the deal, Etsy paid $217 million in cash. It is the first step of the expansion of the North American group to Latin America.

Elo7 is the sixth largest e-commerce website in Brazil, according to Euromonitor data. Etsy considered that the Brazilian company, still at an early stage, has the potential to provide a strong local presence in Latin American e-commerce, whose growth forecast is 26% until 2025.

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According to Etsy, Elo7 is one of the leaders in custom and made-to-order products. “Elo7 is the ‘Etsy of Brazil,’ with a purpose and business model similar to our own,” Etsy’s chief executive, Josh Silverman, said in a news release. “This transaction will establish a foothold for us in Latin America, an underpenetrated e-commerce region where Etsy currently does not have a meaningful customer base.”

Founded in 2008, Elo7’s marketplace currently has 56,000 active sellers and more than 1.9 million buyers. The platform offers around 8 million items for sale, the vast majority made to order, in categories such as crafts, accessories, toys, decoration and clothing.

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Elo7 will continue to be managed by its original teams and will works as an independent marketplace from Etsy, with its own product, marketing and technology management, according to the company.

The acquisition of Elo7 comes shortly after Etsy acquired Depop, a site focused on buying and selling second-hand parts. With the two new acquisitions, Etsy now operates four e-commerce brands with very different proposals – Elo7, Depop, Reverb and Etsy itself.