Brazil’s Movile Notches $400M In Funding For iFood

Around two decades after starting as a digital content studio, Brazil’s Movile has notched $400 million in new funding in what has been reported as one of the biggest deals in Latin America. Existing investors such as Innova Capital and Naspers backed the raise, according to reports.

Movile CEO Fabricio Bloisi said in a statement, “Movile is very fortunate to have long-term investors who have supported us for the past decade to help achieve our goal of transforming the lives of more than one billion people, and thus we are able to continually back iFood to ensure it remains the market leader.”

iFood, a subsidiary of the company, took in 390,000 orders per day in the Brazilian market during the final weeks of October. It counts 120,000 couriers and 50,000 restaurants on its platform. Food delivery, however, wasn’t always the company’s growth engine: When it was just starting, its focus was mobile children’s entertainment content.

Food delivery is moving into a higher realm and big money is flowing as services seek to set themselves apart from the crowd in the $13 billion food delivery business. In September, Postmates said it has raised venture funding to the tune of $300 million — an investment coming off a banner growth year, adoption of a subscription service and market expansion. The company completes millions of deliveries each month, brings in more than more than a billion dollars in gross merchandise volume on a yearly basis and is profitable in 90 percent of its markets.

Technology, too, represents a way for Postmates and others to stand apart in a field of many rivals. The new Postmates capital was to go toward “state-of-the-art API tools,” among other purposes, which will contribute to white-glove delivery services. Postmates also plans to invest in “new, last-mile mobility solutions.”