eCommerce education platform smartBeemo secures $6M fundraise

By Riley Kaminer

The eCommerce industry in Mexico is growing at a rate of around 35% a year, according to the Mexican Association of Online Sales (AMVO). Miami-based startup smartBeemo is developing learning tools to empower Hispanic-American and Latin Americans to take advantage of this trend by building their own eCommerce businesses. 

To further this mission, smartBeemo has raised a $6 million pre-Series A round in a mixture of equity and debt. Half of these funds came from existing investors including Redwood Ventures, New Ventures (Fondation Botnar), and Simma Capital. The other half came from new investors such as Impact Ventures PSM, RGMA Holdings de Multifamily EPC, Angelhub, among others.

“Achieving this level of investment demonstrates the trust that investors have in us,” CEO  Michel Edery [pictured above] told Tekios. “This is thanks to the results and impact that we have generated in the revitalization of the economy in Mexico, Colombia, the Hispanic market in the United States and, in general, in the more than 10 Latin American countries in which we have a presence, through the promotion of the creation of eCommerce businesses in Latin communities around the world.”

And this is just the beginning, Edery asserted: “In addition to becoming an important financial milestone that will allow us to execute our expansion strategy for 2024, where we project a growth of 2X vs. 2023.”

Alejandro González, Managing Partner of Redwood, smartBeemo’s principal investor, underscored the growth potential of eCommerce in LatAm.

“One of the main markets where we see great opportunities for LatAm is eCommerce. While China and the US have a penetration of 30%, in LatAm it is less than 10%.”

“smartBeemo is an enabler of this transition, creating an ecosystem where anyoneRedwood can boost their business,” González continued. “We are very proud to be part of this story and to experience how it is leading the democratization of electronic commerce for all Latin entrepreneurs in Mexico and the world.” 

smartBeemo will leverage this infusion of capital to further develop its platform and further expand throughout Latin America while additionally opening an office in China.

Courses on smartBeemo, which start at around $599, enable students to learn how to sell on platforms like Amazon, Walmart, and Mercado Libre. The company reports that upwards of two-thirds of its students expect to derive most of their income from an eCommerce business upon successfully completing the courses. smartBeemo has already had more than 100,000 students join its courses.

The ultimate goal for Edery and team is to help students achieve financial freedom. “It’s fair to say that Latin Americans are struggling financially,” Edery told Refresh Miami.

“There is a huge digital gap and language gap that makes it challenging to learn new skills and launch a modern-day business,” said Edery. “We saw a great opportunity when we understood the life-changing opportunities in eCommerce entrepreneurship.”

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Riley Kaminer