MadeiraMadeira, a Brazilian company comparable to Wayfair or Ikea, has achieved a valuation of $1 billion following a late-stage funding round of $190 million. This investment was spearheaded by SoftBank’s Latin American investment fund, alongside the Brazilian investment firm Dynamo.

This online marketplace specializes in products for the home, offering approximately 300,000 items to assist customers with building, furnishing, renovating, and decorating their living spaces.

Established in 2009 by Daniel Scandian, Marcelo Scandian and Robson Privado, the company has benefited significantly from the increased adoption of online shopping in Brazil, a trend accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The closure of physical stores led to a substantial increase in online shopping activity within Brazil. According to Daniel Scandian, prior to the pandemic, e-commerce penetration in Brazil stood at around 7%. This figure rose dramatically to 17% during the peak of the pandemic and has since settled at approximately 10%.

MadeiraMadeira’s strategy of integrating third-party sales with its own private-label products, coupled with its dedicated shipping and logistics infrastructure, allows it to emulate successful practices from various online retailers and home furnishing businesses, as explained by Scandian.

The MadeiraMadeira platform hosts over 10,000 sellers and features roughly 2.5 million unique stock keeping units. In recent years, the company has supplemented its online presence with showrooms, enabling customers to view products in person before completing their purchases online.

“This approach allows us to engage the offline market while maintaining a digital-first perspective,” Scandian stated. 

The recently secured funding will be allocated to enhancing its logistics network, including the addition of new warehouse facilities to complement its existing ten locations. The company also plans to introduce same-day delivery options and expand its private label offerings.

This new round of capital is expected to be the final private funding stage before a potential initial public offering. It included participation from existing investors such as Flybridge and Monashees, as well as public investment firms Velt, Brasil Capital and Lakewood.

Key early investors, including Monashees, Kaszek, Fundo Avila, Endeavour Catalyst, and individual investors like Niraj Shah, founder of Wayfair, and Christian Friedland, founder of Build.com, played a crucial role in MadeiraMadeira’s initial growth, according to Scandian.

Based in Curitiba, MadeiraMadeira employs over 1300 individuals, with a significant portion of the workforce dedicated to technology, logistics, and product development.

“This new investment reinforces our commitment to MadeiraMadeira’s long-term vision of creating value as it strengthens its position as the leading home goods marketplace in Latin America. Since our first investment, the management team has consistently delivered on its promises, and our confidence in their abilities continues to grow,” commented Paulo Passoni, Managing Investment Partner at SoftBank Latin America fund.