Lokal secures $700K to scale Chile's B2B retail network
Chilean B2B marketplace Lokal raised $700,000 from Invexor Venture Partners through its Discovery II fund. The platform, founded in 2022 by Nicolás Sarquis, Alberto Morelli, and Gabriel Lyon, enables convenience stores, minimarkets, and pharmacies to source products from multiple suppliers through a single digital interface while accessing credit financing and guaranteed supplier payments.
The funding round leaves the three cofounders controlling more than 75% of the company, an unusually founder-friendly structure for a venture-backed startup at this stage. Lokal currently connects more than 500 suppliers with 3,500 retailers operating across approximately 260 municipalities throughout Chile. The platform posted $4 million in revenue in 2025 and is running at an annualized pace near $5 million.
Invexor Venture Partners, founded in 2015 by Jorge Rodríguez and Cristián Undurraga, made the investment through its Discovery II vehicle. Before this round, Lokal participated in the Platanus Ventures accelerator program and raised $100,000 in 2022, with backing from founders of HealthAtom, Buda.com, BabyTuto, and Helados San Francisco.
Why Lokal's expansion signals growing demand for tech talent in Chilean retail
Lokal's planned expansion will reshape hiring across Chile's retail technology sector. The startup's nine-person team will grow as the company pursues its goal of reaching more than 100,000 small retailers.
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The decision to develop an AI-powered recommendation engine represents a significant technical undertaking demanding specialized machine learning and software engineering capabilities. This tool will advise merchants on product selection, order quantities, and restocking timing, addressing a core operational challenge for Chile's corner stores. Corner stores account for approximately half of consumer sales across Latin America, yet only a small fraction of transactions flow through digital channels.
Companies seeking AI and fintech talent in Latin America face intensifying competition as B2B marketplace platforms proliferate across the region. Lokal competes in a category that includes Colombia's Chiper and other ventures targeting the digitization of traditional retail supply chains. For employers, this funding round signals continued investor appetite for retail technology ventures in Chile, translating to sustained demand for professionals with experience in marketplace operations, payment systems, and predictive analytics.
The founders' backgrounds reveal the talent profile driving Chile's retail tech sector. Sarquis and Morelli previously worked at Fpay, the fintech arm of retail conglomerate Falabella, while Lyon developed products for startups at Platanus. This combination of corporate fintech experience and startup product development reflects the hybrid skill sets increasingly valued in Chilean venture-backed technology companies.
GENTY's building teams across Chile guide offers additional context for employers planning their next hires. GENTY's AI and fintech talent in Latin America guide offers additional context for employers planning their next hires.
AI development and team growth: what's next for Lokal
Lokal will direct the new capital toward three priorities: team expansion, national market penetration, and development of its AI recommendation system. The company aims to reach more than 100,000 small merchants, a nearly 30-fold increase from its current retailer base of 3,500 stores. Achieving this scale will require substantial growth in field sales teams, customer success personnel, and logistics coordination staff across Chile's diverse geography.
The planned AI tool represents a strategic bet on automation to reduce the time merchants spend managing inventory decisions. Cofounder Nicolás Sarquis stated that if the future of commerce is local, the best tools must serve those merchants, according to Startups Latam coverage. The system will analyze purchasing patterns, supplier availability, and demand signals to generate tailored recommendations for each store.
For employers evaluating Chile's technology sector, Lokal's trajectory illustrates the convergence of traditional retail infrastructure with emerging AI capabilities. The startup's ability to maintain founder control while securing institutional capital, combined with its focus on a large but underserved market segment, positions it as a case study in how Chilean ventures approach fundraising and talent strategy. Companies competing for similar profiles will need to articulate clear technical challenges and market opportunities to attract candidates capable of operating in resource-constrained, high-growth environments.
The retail technology sector's expansion in Chile creates opportunities for professionals with cross-functional expertise spanning supply chain logistics, financial services integration, and machine learning applications. As Lokal and similar platforms scale, demand for talent comfortable navigating both legacy retail operations and modern software development practices will intensify across the region.