Brazilian retail distribution startup Praso secures $9.3 million in Series A

With rapid digitization ongoing in the LatAm retail distribution landscape, Brazil-based Praso is carving out a unique path to cop its own share of the market.

Unlike many traditional models, Praso has set its sights on a different target, offering B2B fulfilment solutions for small retailers in the food service industry across Brazil. This is because, while order fulfilment in the consumer space is getting a lot of attention and has largely been digitized, business-to-business distribution remains largely offline and manual with little competition.

Praso primarily focuses on businesses like bars, restaurants, cafés, and bakeries. It originally operated by purchasing products from supply partners and then reselling them to small merchants. However, the company is gradually shifting its business model towards offering fulfilment services rather than holding inventory, with 120 supply partners and 7,500 merchants.

This strategy has seen Praso achieve rapid growth, with its revenue increasing sevenfold and is on track to triple its growth by the end of the year. It also achieved contribution profit positivity, meaning it generates a profit on every order it delivers.

Now the Brazil-based distribution platform has secured $9.3 million in Series A funding co-led by Valor Capital Group and NFX, with participation from existing investor Base Partners, Formus Capital, Iporanga Ventures, and Endeavor Scale-Up. In total, Praso has raised $14.5 million to date.

Alongside its funding announcement, Praso also revealed its acquisition of the intellectual property of Floki, a company that uses artificial intelligence to automate purchases for small bars and restaurants. The terms of this acquisition were not disclosed.

With the new funding, the distribution company plans to further expand its logistics network in the four metro areas where it currently operates.

Additionally, it intends to integrate Floki's data intelligence and purchasing insights into its existing customer portfolios including accounts payable management, and inventory management. It is also working on a credit offering for merchants.