# Riogrande Financial Model LatAm e-commerce brand aggregator - acquires, incubates, and scales third-party marketplace brands on Amazon and Mercado Libre. - Canonical: https://finamodel.com/startups/riogrande - Excel download: https://finamodel.com/startup-models/riogrande.xlsx - Category: Marketplace - Model type: LBO - Funding round: Seed - Funding: $12M - Founded: 2022 - Geography: Latin America (Argentina launch market; expansion to Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Colombia per roadmap) [DECK slides 3, 11]. - Customer: B2C ## About the company RioGrande acquires, incubates, and scales third-party e-commerce brands across Amazon and Mercado Libre in Latin America. It uses supply-chain renegotiation, growth marketing, channel expansion, and its own API linking marketplaces, ERP, and warehouse systems to improve brand operations. The company reported $9 million of revenue and $1.7 million of EBITDA in November 2021, with revenue growing more than 50% month over month in the preceding three months. It earns direct product sales from brands it owns rather than charging a marketplace commission. The model is a multi-brand inventory portfolio P&L. Acquisitions, brand cohorts, SKU sales, pricing, marketplace fees, COGS, inventory, and channel mix roll into consolidated revenue and EBITDA. Deal cadence, post-acquisition growth, supply-chain savings, working capital, and regional expansion determine returns. ## What's included - 5-year monthly revenue build with stage-appropriate growth assumptions - Full P&L, headcount plan, and operating-expense schedule - Cash-flow statement, runway, and burn-rate tracking - Valuation via exit multiple with a DCF cross-check - Returns analysis with MOIC and IRR - Unit economics including CAC, LTV, payback, and cohort retention ## Product & value proposition - Acquires underperforming or nascent marketplace brands on Amazon and Mercado Libre that lack capital, technology, data, and management expertise. - Injects growth marketing, supply-chain renegotiation, channel expansion, and proprietary tech to unlock scale. - Operates a proprietary tech platform (RioGrande API) connecting marketplace data feeds → ERP → WMS for real-time inventory, order, and product management. - Current brand portfolio: I Love Shape (shapewear/underwear), Lust (sex toys), Yayos (footwear), Vigorem (men's shaver). - Target categories: Women, Home, Shapewear, Sexual Wellness, Beauty & Personal Care, Nutrition. ## Market - LatAm e-commerce described as a "+$100B market". - Total LatAm e-commerce revenue trajectory (US$B): $85B (2020) → $98B (2021E) → $109B (2022E) → $120B (2023E). - LatAm e-commerce CAGR 2020–2024: avg 13.4%; by country - USA 6.2%, Colombia 10.7%, Brazil 11.7%, Chile 15.0%, Mexico 16.3%. - Comparable brand analogs cited (US market): Spanx $1B company, Manscaped $1B company, Bountiful Company $1.85B sales (acquired by Nestlé for $5.75B), Lovehoney $75M sales, Shapermint $150M sales. ## Revenue model - Direct product sales through Amazon and Mercado Libre marketplace listings (owned brands). - Plans for omni-channel expansion: other marketplaces/platforms, B2B sales channel. - No pricing detail, AOV, or SKU-level data disclosed. - Revenue model is inventory-based: buy/manufacture product, list on marketplace, earn GMV net of marketplace fees. - Gross margin lever: renegotiate supply-chain/COGS agreements. ## Traction & metrics - Revenue (Nov-21): $9M. - EBITDA (Nov-21): $1.7M. - Revenue (Oct-21): $4.5M. - EBITDA (Oct-21): $1.2M. - MoM revenue growth last 3 months: 50%+. - Revenue growth since Jul-21: 40x. - Series started: Jun-21; curve near-zero through Jul-21, then exponential through Dec-21. - 4M+ Amazon & Mercado Libre brands identified as unable to unlock exponential growth (addressable acquisition pipeline). ## Unit economics - EBITDA margin (Nov-21): ~18.9% ($1.7M EBITDA / $9M revenue). - EBITDA margin (Oct-21): ~26.7% ($1.2M / $4.5M) - note: margin compression at Nov-21 may reflect reinvestment or scale. ## Competition / moat - Differentiated from pure 3P sellers by: tech platform (proprietary API/ERP/WMS stack), growth marketing expertise, data analytics, supply-chain leverage. - Compares LatAm market to "US market 15 years ago - inefficient and fragmented" as a structural moat narrative. - No named direct competitors (other LatAm brand aggregators) mentioned. - Moat claims: first-mover brand aggregator in LatAm, operational synergies across brand portfolio, ML-powered automation roadmap (Phase 3, 2023+). ## Team & funding ask / use of funds - Co-Founder Ivan Amelong: 15+ yrs GM/CFO expertise LatAm; interim CFO Grow Mobility (YC), helped raise $210M equity; Finance/Ops Director at Dafiti (Rocket Internet). - Co-Founder Tono Mandly: Exited e-commerce brand at age 16 (+400% revenue yr 2); expanded Grow Mobility to 10 countries/30 cities in 1 year. - Co-Founder Fede Naides: 15+ yrs Ops/Supply Chain; Ops Director at Grow Mobility, Delivery Hero, Dafiti; managed $70M annual budget, led 3k+ FTE workforce. - M&A Director Miguel de la Garza: $5B+ M&A/equity/debt transactions; Director at Televisa VC fund ($60M+ deployed). - Growth Director Elena Manna: former Rappi Head of e-Commerce (10x sales in 12 months); Sephora Head of e-Commerce Mexico (300% YoY, #1 cosmetics marketplace). - New Business Director Oscar Austria: Frubana Mexico Growth (250-person team, 9x GMV in 12 months); BCG consultant. - Head of Engineering Marcos Lopez: former Ibushak CTO (grew backend from $10M to $40M+ revenue); Kavak senior engineer. - Investors: Y Combinator, Harvard Management Company, L2 Ventures, Streamlined Ventures, JAM Fund, Pioneer Fund, Italic, Eight Sleep, Tinder (US); Mercado Libre, Jaguar Ventures, Rappi, Investo, Kavak, Clara (LatAm). - Strategic goal stated: $250M run-rate revenue by 2023. --- ## Recommended financial model - **Archetype + why:** Multi-brand e-commerce portfolio / brand aggregator P&L. Revenue is product GMV across owned brands; the model must track acquisition pipeline + per-brand growth trajectories + consolidated P&L with EBITDA. Closest analog is a DTC/marketplace inventory P&L but with a portfolio roll-up layer and M&A acquisition mechanics. Not a SaaS or marketplace-take-rate model. - **Forecast horizon & granularity:** Monthly, 2022–2024 (3 years). Monthly is essential given 50%+ MoM growth and rapid brand-level compounding. Annual summary sheet for board view. - **Key drivers & assumptions:** *Portfolio / M&A layer:* - Number of brands acquired per quarter: 2–3/quarter in 2022, scaling to 4–5/quarter by 2023; rationale: Phase 2 GTM calls for rapid portfolio expansion. - Average acquisition price per brand: $100K–$500K (revenue multiple of 1–2x trailing 3-month GMV); rationale: early-stage LatAm brands with thin access to capital; no deck data. - Capital deployed per brand acquisition: includes purchase price + working capital injection ($50K–$200K inventory top-up). *Per-brand revenue model:* - Pre-acquisition monthly GMV baseline: $30K–$100K; rationale: these are "stuck" brands not yet growing exponentially. - Post-acquisition MoM revenue growth: 50%+ MoM in first 3 months post-intervention; model uses 50% for first 3 months, decelerating to 20% months 4–6, then 10–15% steady-state. - Brand revenue ramp duration: 12–18 months to peak growth rate, then maturation. - Channel mix: Amazon / Mercado Libre split: 60% / 40% initially; shifts to broader channel mix in Phase 2. *Margin structure:* - Gross margin: 35–45%; rationale: typical branded DTC on marketplace, allowing for COGS improvement from supply-chain renegotiation; no gross margin disclosed in deck. - Marketplace fees (Amazon/MeLi): 15–20% of GMV; built into COGS or as a line item. - EBITDA margin: ~19% at Nov-21 (early stage, high growth); model targets 20–25% at scale. - Fulfillment / logistics as % of revenue: 8–12%; rationale: LatAm logistics complexity; no data in deck. - Marketing / growth spend as % of revenue per brand: 15–20% during scale phase; rationale: growth marketing is a core lever. - G&A / central platform costs: flat cost base scaling sub-linearly (operating leverage thesis per deck slide 5). *Top-line targets:* - Run-rate revenue by end-2023: $250M stated target (slide 12); back-solve: implies ~$20M/month by Dec-23. - Nov-21 run-rate (actual): $9M/month = ~$108M annualised. *Working capital:* - Inventory days: 45–60 days; rationale: marketplace fulfilment model with local warehousing (WMS referenced). - Payables days: 30 days to suppliers. - Receivables days: 7–14 days (marketplace remittance cycles). - **Scenarios (Base / Bull / Bear - which variables flex):** - Base: 2–3 brand acquisitions/quarter, 50% MoM growth for 3 months post-acquisition, 40% gross margin, $250M run-rate by end-2023. - Bull: 4–5 acquisitions/quarter, 60%+ MoM growth sustained for 4 months, 45% gross margin (faster supply-chain wins), $350M+ run-rate. - Bear: 1–2 acquisitions/quarter, 30% MoM growth (slower brand integration), 35% gross margin, $100–130M run-rate by 2023. - **Required sheets / outputs:** 1. Assumptions - all drivers, acquisition pace, per-brand growth curve, margin targets. 2. Brand Portfolio - one row per brand; month-by-month revenue, acquisition date, EBITDA contribution. 3. Consolidated P&L - GMV → net revenue → gross profit → EBITDA → EBIT → net income (monthly + annual). 4. Working Capital & Cash Flow - inventory build, AP/AR, capex (tech platform), acquisition spend. 5. Balance Sheet (simplified) - to track equity/debt capacity for brand acquisitions. 6. Funding & M&A - acquisition pipeline, capital deployed, implied valuation (revenue multiple on exit). 7. Dashboard - portfolio KPIs: total brands, revenue run-rate, blended EBITDA margin, cash runway. ## Frequently asked questions ### Is the Riogrande financial model free? Yes. The Riogrande model is a free Excel download with live formulas. ### Can I change the assumptions? Yes. The workbook is editable and its live formulas recalculate when assumptions change.