Treinta, a startup that is part of the Winter 2021 Y Combinator cohort, announced this morning that it has raised north of half a million dollars for its bookkeeping and inventory management software aimed at Latin American small businesses.
The capital was raised between a small friends-and-family round, Y Combinator’s investment in Treinta and another $220,000 that it closed in early 2021.
The company, based in Bogotá, Colombia and currently sporting a team of 13, is working to bring digital transformation to the smallest of enterprises: namely single-operator small stores.
An accelerating digital transformation, the process by which companies transform aging workflows and processes into software-based rhythms, is not just for big companies. Though we often hear of large companies pursuing digital transformation efforts, Treinta is betting that tiny companies are similar to their larger siblings in needing to change how they do business.
Treinta’s concept of bringing to tiny companies in Latin America the ability to record transactions and expenses and track inventory is proving to be a fast-growing idea. According to co-founder Lluís Cañadell, Treinta grew its monthly active users by 400% for a few months after launching on August 31, 2020. The company expected 300% growth in January and 30,000 monthly actives when we first spoke with them. The co-founder updated TechCrunch via email this week that his company actually reached the 35,000 user mark last month.
Cañadell also told TechCrunch that his company expects to keep expanding at a pace of around 100% month-over-month for a few more months. And Treinta surpassed $25 million in gross transaction volume — the value of transactions recorded in its app — a few weeks back. The startup is onto something.
How is it managing to grow so quickly? Lockdown in Colombia forced many small businesses online in a hurry. By offering what is, for many users, their first digital tool, Treinta is helping many small companies stay afloat.
Treinta plans on offering more services in time to its user base of SMB owners, including digital payments. Credit is another possibility that Cañadell mentioned to TechCrunch.
The startup has runway to get it through the end of summer 2021, and big plans. Cañadell told TechCrunch that there are 50 million so-called microbusinesses in Latin America — including Brazil, a market that Treinta has yet to expand to — of which 90% still use paper to record their business transactions. With smartphone penetration now greater than 80% in Colombia per the company, Treinta could have plenty of growth ahead of it.
I asked the company if it will participate in Y Combinator’s demo day. Cañadell said that he’s happy to talk to investors, but isn’t sure yet what his plans are. TechCrunch, of course, will be there.
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