E-commerce is a growing market worldwide and Latin America is no exception. Zubale, a company working in the e-commerce trade, connects workers, part- or full-time employees, with contractors and companies desperate for work. In its first major round of funding, a Series A round, Zubale earned $40 million in its first round of receiving significant venture capital. Zubale’s economic aid should expand operations throughout Latin America, beyond the boundaries of Mexico, where it started.

Zubale’s Foundation

The founders of Zubale, Allison Campbell and Sebastian Monroy created the company and began operations specifically in Mexico to serve as a testing ground and to allow people to find work and seek reliable income for those who have flexible schedules with the assistance of a smartphone. When the company first started, it connected workers with employers and the connected workers could earn rewards from certain corporations. Zubale, in its earliest days, worked out a system of credit that helped in the short-term for its contractors and part-time employees. However, as the company has grown, the workers who use Zubale’s app now earn reliable money.

Zubale’s economic aid in the very first stages of the company’s development was minimal. As the connected workers only earned digital rewards, the economic aid was less than desirable in Mexico. Initially, the company opened its business to the public with only 10 full-time employees. Now, it has quadrupled in the size of its full-time base of workers who work in Zubale’s headquarters. Furthermore, Zubale has countless part-time workers both in-office and find work for themselves through their phones. Campbell and Monroy founded the company in Mexico and have met with great success. They now expect to expand operations into Chile and Brazil, Grit Daily reports.

Impact in Mexico

When measuring their number of workers using the term “gig-workers,” whether full or part-time, Zubale has tens of thousands of workers who use the company’s app to find fieldwork. Campbell and Monroy learned that the Latin American retail and e-commerce markets generate $2 trillion. However, companies spend about $40 billion funding unreliable work and tasks. Zubale’s economic aid in Mexico saves companies money by finding them reliable, flexible work to fulfill the unfinished duties efficiently and effectively.

Mexico’s poverty rate is 43.9%, which means that numerous individuals can benefit from the work Zubale connects them to. Zubale’s setup helps the app’s workers set up checking and saving bank accounts and credit cards with major corporations that work and garner trust internationally. The impact Zubale can have in Mexico is even more impressive considering that more than half of the population does not have a secure bank account. Credit card ownership dropped from 15% to 9% from 2014 to 2017. The number of credit cards in Mexico has already increased by two million, with more than 28 million credit cards in circulation.

Zubale’s economic aid has gained a reputation and investors were eager to jump on board and get the work of Zubale to other Latin American nations. QED Investors was one of Zubale’s investors, and Lauren Morton, a partner at QED Investors, said, “We were immediately impressed by the vision and execution of the Zubale team. Their approach to growing opportunities for independent workers in the region is a major step forward in financial inclusion and we’re inspired by the ways to grow this impact over time.”

What Can Zubale Do for Latin America?

Zubale’s economic aid can mirror the impact it has had in Mexico. The company can lower the poverty rates and increase the number of people who have credit cards or secure checking or savings accounts with respected banking institutions. Zubale intends to start by expanding in Brazil and Chile. Sebastien Monroy moved to Brazil to begin Zubale’s operations slowly and implement the company into the local economy, with positive receptions.

Respectively, Brazil’s poverty rate, the last figure is from 2019, was 19.6% and Chile’s poverty rate, from 2020, was 10.8%. Some 30% of Chileans own a credit card and 27% of Brazilians own at least one credit card. Almost 70% of Chile’s adult population has a bank account with a secure and reputable bank, with Brazilians matching Chile’s rate of bank account ownership.

As long as Zubale promises the same assistance with setting up credit cards or bank accounts, the opportunities for economic advancements are significant. Setting up a credit card for someone allows the person to build a credit score and financial history, making them eligible for more economic advances. Credit scores and credit histories are building grounds for trustworthiness and international acceptance. Credit scores also have benefits outside of the individual impacts.

It is a bit of a domino effect because individuals with higher credit ratings are more likely to invest in stock. Areas with more citizens who have higher credit ratings overall are more likely to open more investment opportunities, creating a circle of prosperity, not poverty. With Zubale’s economic aid, this change in cyclical economics is becoming a greater possibility for all the countries in which they operate.

– Clara Mulvihill
Photo: Flickr