Brazil's Movile grabs $55M as it grows its e-commerce and instant delivery businesses

The on-demand economy is not just a thing in the U.S.. Brazil has apparently been really getting into the trend with  various apps and services becoming available online.

Brazil’s Movile, the mobile commerce company behind food deliver app iFood, today announced that it has raised $55 million in new funding to continue expanding its online-to-offline (O2O) business.

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In February 2013, Movile invested $2.6 million into iFood, an existing GrubHub-like service popular in Brazil, which acquired a similar service, Central do Delivery, in early 2014. Since its investment from Movile, 60 percent of iFood’s orders now come from smartphones, up from 7 percent prior to that. iFood is now on track to deliver 3.5 million meals in 2014.

“Movile has been at the forefront of mobile technology in Latin America for the last decade.” said Movile co-founder and chief executive Fabricio Bloisi in a statement.

“Now, with the expertise of Innova Capital on our board, we are poised to create the dominant platform for people to order and receive tangible goods and services, O2O services, on their smartphone at a time when Brazil’s mobile growth is explosive, growing 106 percent in only two years,” he said.

The company will not only continue to grow its iFood business, but also expand into additional O2O offerings and use the capital for “investments, acquisitions, partnerships, and recruitment of top talent” in that area, according to Movile.

Movile is also behind content-focused apps, such as PlayKids, a subscription-based smartphone and tablet app for children containing games, video, lullabies, and ebooks.

Movile’s strategy is strongly resembling that of China’s Tencent, an Internet company whose properties and investments span from content apps to, most recently, a laundry delivery service.

Innova Capital led the $35 million fourth round of funding, with additional participation from current investor Naspers, and the company has also secured $20 million in long-term financing through FINEP, Brazil’s Funding Authority for Studies and Projects within the Ministry of Technology.

Movile was founded in 1998 by Leonardo Constantino Oliveira, Marcelo Sales, Fabricio Bloisi, Eduardo Lins Henrique, and Rafael Duton, with offices in Sao Paolo, Brazil, and Sunnyvale, Calif.

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