WhatsApp has become a popular platform for e-commerce in Latin American countries like Brazil and Chile, despite not being designed for that purpose. Recognizing this trend, startup Mercately has developed B2B software that enables brands to sell directly on WhatsApp. By integrating with platforms like Stripe and HubSpot and utilizing AI agents, Mercately helps brands communicate with customers, manage inventory, process payments, and create purchase orders, all within the WhatsApp app.
The idea for Mercately came to co-founder and CEO Henry Remache while he was doing software development work in Latin America. He discovered that many small and medium-sized companies in the region were conducting 90% of their sales through WhatsApp instead of traditional e-commerce platforms. This realization led Remache to believe that brands should focus on selling where their customers already are, rather than trying to launch platforms elsewhere.
Building the startup was not without its challenges. Latin America is a fragmented market with different currencies and shipping processes. However, since its launch in 2022, Mercately has experienced significant growth, working with over 1,000 companies across 20 countries and generating more than $1.5 million in annual revenue. Remache attributes this success to the company’s ability to adapt to consumer behavior and make it easier for businesses to sell on WhatsApp.
To further enhance their services, Mercately recently raised a $2.6 million seed round led by Inventus Capital Partners and SVQuad. The funding will be used to hire more AI engineers to strengthen their AI chatbots and expand Mercately’s presence in Brazil and the United States, where they already operate but have yet to establish strong market share.
Being a Latin American startup presented fundraising challenges, but Mercately’s participation in Techstars helped open doors for them. Additionally, their involvement in Meta’s “Future of Business Messaging Platform” program introduced them to their lead investors, Inventus Capital Partners and SVQuad. Remache notes that these investors, who come from India, another country with high WhatsApp usage, understand the significance of the platform.
Mercately faces competition from other companies building business services for WhatsApp, such as Infobip and Trengo. The high adoption rate of WhatsApp in Latin America, with over 90% of internet users in the region utilizing the platform, has attracted many startups to develop on it. While the United States has not seen as much adoption, there is a growing trend, and Mercately aims to capitalize on that.
Remache compares Mercately’s mission to how Shopify simplified web-based e-commerce in the United States. He believes that Mercately is simplifying WhatsApp commerce in Latin America and hopes to continue driving the growth of e-commerce on the platform.
