Brazilian location startup, In Loco, raises US$20 million in Series B

Contxto – Valor Capital, Unbox Capital, among others, recently invested US$20 million into a Brazilian location intelligence platform, In Loco.

Projected to become the first Brazilian unicorn from Pernambuco, the startup combines geo-localization technology with multiple use cases such as advertising, retail and finance to create a unique business solution.

In Summary

Following this successful Series B, the Recife-based startup intends to expand to the United States. There, it plans to establish commercial and marketing teams. The goal is to reach 50 million U.S. smartphones within the next 18 months due to the digital consumer culture.

“Today, three out of ten American homes have at least one internet gadget,” said co-founder and CEO André Ferraz. “At the same time, privacy has become a concern.”

Keeping this in mind, In Loco also plans to develop new transaction authentication and localization features using IoT technology.

“The next leap in technology is going to be you making a transaction without needing the identity of the consumer,” said Ferraz. “We already have this technology on mobile, and now we will create authorization and personalization protocols for IoT services anonymously.”

Other investors included Naspers, which is the companies biggest partner. For this Series B, Naspers supported In Loco with seed capital in addition to leading its Series A in 2017.

In-Depth

Originally, In Loco began as a media business in 2011 by computer science students at the Federal University of Pernambuco in Recife. Specifically, its technology aids advertisers in reaching more buyers, especially in physical retail locations. This way, In Loco aids partners in influencing consumers’ purchasing decisions.

Smartphones can better understand and predict consumer behavior with In Loco’s services. Specifically, the young firm incorporates its technology into prominent applications available on the market.

Over 60 million cell phones in Brazil, as well as 5 million in the United States, use In Loco’s technology. Those working in mobile banking, payments, and commerce are the fastest growing customer segments for In Loco.

“We’re moving from a localized mobile media platform to a technology platform for application economics,” said Ferraz.

When consumers arrive at a point of sale, In Loco sends push notifications based on the person’s geographic location. This reminds buyers of the advantages of paying with certain clients, for example. Once payments go through, the In Loco system analyzes the transaction to validate its legitimacy thanks to its anti-fraud systems.

Other prominent clients include Jeep, Microsoft and McDonalds. Generally, most partners come from retail, fintech, as well as traditional “brick and mortar” stores wanting to use location intelligence solutions to grow their businesses.

Over the past year, In Loco has also increased its data generation capacity. Specifically, the startup with 180 employees has grown from 5 terabytes of location trackings per day to capturing almost 15 terabytes.

-JA