E-commerce platform specialized in construction materials will invest more than $15 million in Ecuador

Tul, an e-commerce platform specialized in construction materials, will invest more than $15 million in Ecuador in 2022.

The amount to be invested in the country is higher than the amount executed in 2021, which was $12 million.

The firm, present in Ecuador since October 2020, will expand its presence in the country and in Brazil thanks to the fact that it raised $181 million in an equity financing round led by 8VC.

The funding round, led by Austin, Texas-based venture capital firm 8VC and expanded by New York-based Avenir Growth Capital, makes Tul the startup leader in the construction materials segment and positions it as one of the following Latin American unicorns.

More than $430 million in six new investment contracts

Andrés Ramírez, director of expansion, communications and public affairs of Tul, assured that, after identifying that the technology had not reached the construction sector and its value chain, the brand set out to transform this sector starting with the hardware store.

“We bet on Ecuador in this new stage with a new government, in which they want to attract investment,” said Ramírez.

The spokesperson remarked that in 2021 it was possible to digitize hardware stores located in Pichincha and Guayas. In addition, distribution centers (warehouses) were installed in Quito and Guayaquil, which made it possible to reach seven provinces directly and three indirectly.

Now, with the new amount to be invested, the company’s plans for 2022 focus on expanding its presence and logistics coverage, having larger inventories, increasing employment positions and promoting innovation and development. For example, one of the goals, according to Ramírez, is to expand the extension of the existing warehouses.

“With the opening of the country to investments, it gives us that vote of confidence to continue growing as startup”, affirmed the Tul spokesman.

Companies from 12 sectors signed investment contracts for $2,158 million in 2021

In company data, it is recorded that there have been about 30,000 downloads of the application and more than 173,000. In Ecuador, for example, there are monthly increases of 20% to the point of closing 2021 with more than 3,200 hardware stores served.

Within the company’s plans for the years 2022 and 2023 is to reach 10,000 hardware stores in countries such as Brazil, Bolivia and Peru, and another 10,000 new hardware stores in the current countries, of which they hope that about 2,000 are in Ecuadorian territory, in order to complete more than 20,000 new hardware stores in Latin America. (I)