LatAm Grocery Delivery Platform Calii Raises $22.5M Series A

Grocery delivery startup Calii raised $22.5 million in a Series A funding round, bringing its fundraising to date to almost $35 million, as it strives to grow its position in the Latin American (LatAm) food delivery sector.

Headquartered in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, and founded in 2019, the funding round was co-led by Dalus Capital and JAM Fund with participation by Forerunner Ventures, Streamlined Ventures, Y Combinator and Base10 Partners, according to retailtechinnovationhub.com and other reports.

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Calii strives to deliver groceries at prices below those found in-store by working directly with local producers, sidestepping the middleman, and automating inefficiencies in the supply chain. The startup fulfills orders using its matrix of dark stores, and aggregates demand using social channels and gamified deals, according to the reports.

The company was launched by Stanford engineers David Eduardo Arrambide and Maurizio Caló Caligaris, with the goal of connecting producers and brands to automate the supply chain end-to-end. Calii delivers over 5,000 products — produce, meat, seafood and ready-to-eat items.

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Arrambide, who serves as CEO, told TechCrunch that the company’s process saves people money but also slashes environmental waste by up to three times. He said Calii’s products are priced the same or less than typical grocery retailers.

Calii faces rivals in three buckets, Arrambide said: marketplaces, like Cornershop; quick commerce, like Jokr; and full groceries, like Jüsto and Merqueo.

The new capital will be used for expansion in Mexico and the rest of Latin America, with plans to grow its footprint in over 14 cities and several countries through July of this year.

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“To truly crack the $1 trillion groceries market in LatAm, we understand that we cannot be a premium service, charging 20% more than supermarket; therefore, we’re rebuilding and automating the grocery supply chain from first principles, injecting tech and data in every layer, in order to deliver ultra-freshness with savings,” Arrambide said.