INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
By 2020, Brazilian mobile giant, Movile, wants to improve the lives of more than one billion people through its apps
The company began its mission in 1998 selling gaming, news and SMS messaging services to mobile operators in Brazil
After receiving its first investment from South African-based global investor Naspers 10 years ago, Movile grew into one of the largest and
most successful mobile companies in Latin America, with more than 150 million monthly active users of its apps and estimated revenues over
$240 million.
Movile app, PlayKids, propelled the company to the global stage
A platform that offers educational products and content for children, PlayKids in 2014 reached more than 6 million downloads within a year
of launching, and 5 million active users per month.
From there, Movile turned its attention to an unprecedented strategy of mergers and
acquisitions in Latin America
The company expansion strategy included investments in more than 20 other mobile companies, such as iFood and Sympla, two of the most
prominent players in Latin America mobile space today.
Here a look at how Movile went from local success story in Brazil to one of the
largest mobile companies in Latin America — and its next steps for mobile success worldwide.
The PlayKids launching pad
By 2012, Movile
was the largest mobile services company in Brazil
With more than 150 employees, the company established its core offerings in mobile payments, mobile commerce and other B2B mobile solutions
Movile teams successfully opened offices in Mexico, Colombia, Argentina and Venezuela, which they achieved through the acquisition of
another mobile company with a similar business model, CycleLogic
But it wasn&t until the launch of PlayKids in 2013 that one of Movile creations landed in the hands of millions of users around the
world.
By June 2014, PlayKids had users in more than 30 countries and was one of the top-grossing children apps of all time
The success of PlayKids allowed Movile to build key relationships with tech firms in Silicon Valley, including Apple and Google, for the
distribution of the company apps, and Facebook for marketing them.
Also by this time, Movile had more than 700 employees working from 11
offices in six countries, and began the next chapter in their story: ramping up their investments in other mobile companies
Movile used this strategy not only to continue its expansion across the region, but also to fend off any foreign competition eyeing Latin
America increasingly lucrative mobile market
By 2014-2015, Latin America was the fastest-growing smartphone market in the world with 109.5 million smartphone units sold in the
region.
Becoming Latin America mobile powerhouse
2014 marked a big year for Movile
The company invested $1.6 million into online food delivery startup iFood in the past, but an additional $2.6 million investment in 2014
led to the purchase of an iFood competitor, Central Delivery
Movile investments in iFood and its buy-out of the competition took the iFood app from 25,000 orders per month to more than one million
orders per month.
Movile goal was simple: take a fast-moving startup and help it grow beyond what the founding team ever thought
possible.
The insights and data that Movile gathered during its strategic venture capital investments in iFood were critical
During this time, Movile built the foundation for its investments that followed shortly after, and learned how to make them a success
With each new investment, Movile goal was simple: take a fast-moving startup and help it grow beyond what the founding team ever thought
possible by infusing cash, human capital and any technical resources or expertise that the startup could possibly need.
Movile quickly
solidified its MA strategy, its processes and its position as a leader in Latin America mobile market
To continue financing its growth through acquisitions, Movile raised another $55 millionfrom Innova Capital, Jorge Paulo Lemann and FINEP in
its Series D round in 2014
This new round of financing led to even more acquisitions, including the acquisition of Rapiddo, ChefTime and FreshTime
It also allowed the company to make additional investments in LBS Local, the owners of Apontador, MapLink, Cinepapaya and TruckPad.
Bundling
an empire
In 2015, after a handful of investments in food-related startups, Movile appetite for the food and delivery space continued to
Naspers and Innova Capital infused another $40 million (Series E) into Movile in 2016
Movile then boosted its iFood and Just EAT platforms with another $50 million
With access to all of Movile resources, iFood quickly rose as a leader in online food delivery in Latin America, with 6.2 million monthly
orders and a growing presence in multiple countries, including Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and Argentina.
Movile venture capital model became
so successful that iFood replicated the same model themselves
iFood took part in more than 10 mergers and acquisitions, including the acquisition of SpoonRocket, a San Francisco-based online food
iFood acquired SpoonRocket technology to help it expand its reach across Latin America.
In 2016, Movile Rappido app acquired on-demand
courier service 99Motos, and then Movile made investments in Sympla (a DIY-ticketing platform for events), while raising another $40 million
(Series F) from Naspers and Innova Capital
By 2017, Movile raised an additional $53 million (Series G) from Naspers and Innova Capital, bringing Naspers& share of Movile to 70
percent.
On the road to one billion
With no shortage of cash, Movile now has plans to put more than half of its latest $53 million Naspers
investment into Rapiddo Marketplace
Movile believes they can transform the Rapiddo Marketplace into a one-stop-shop for a variety of consumer transactions ranging from food
delivery and event tickets to refilling mobile credit and hailing rides
Included in this ambitious plan is a payments platform similar to PayPal called Zoop, which handles all digital payments and makes the
Rapiddo Marketplace a single platform that can integrate many — if not all — of Movile other applications.
If a path does not
yet exist, Movile will simply build, acquire or bundle its way to make it happen.
Movile mission is no easy feat; however, if the
company is to achieve its goal of touching the lives of one billion people through its apps, there may never be a better time
Movile all-in-one mobile platform concept is reminiscent of China Tencent, which established a number of successful paid services based on
Tencent is currently worth half a trillion dollars and rising, with investments from Naspers and earnings of almost $22 billion last
year.
Tencent allows merchants in China to sell their products and receive payments through WeChat, China largest mobile messaging app used
by more than one billion people
Using an application with widespread adoption and popularity, Tencent is able to continuously add layers and layers of services, precisely
what Movile plans to do now with its mobile companies in Latin America.
Movile believes it can be just as successful as Tencent because the
Latin American mobile market strikes a number of similarities with Southeast Asian countries
On the other hand, skeptics believe that since Latin America lacks a WeChat-like application to unify the region, it will be difficult to
achieve the same level of success
But if we&ve learned anything from Movile, it that if a path does not yet exist, Movile will simply build, acquire or bundle its way to make
it happen.
Wavy, Movile latest endeavor, could achieve this
The business, which bundles Movile 400+ content partner companies, 100 million active user base and 40 Latin American mobile carrier
businesses, is already one of the largest global players in this space based on sheer numbers alone
The Wavy portfolio incorporates a wide range of products, including educational content and apps, B2B messaging services such as chatbots,
SMS, RCS and voice messaging, as well as partnerships with companies in the gaming, bots and apps space.
The race is on among global mobile
platform providers and device manufacturers to become the first to offer a total mobile user experience
However, there are very few companies that will ever be able to replicate the range of products and services Movile has developed, making it
one of the most remarkable mobile success stories of our time — and one that not over yet.
