The Brains Behind Rappi, Latin America’s Super App
In April, Simón Borrero, Sebastian Mejia, and Felipe Villamarin’s company received as much as $1 billion, the largest venture capital investment in a Latin American company.
(From left) Simón Borrero, Sebastian Mejia, and Felipe Villamarin, founders of Rappi Inc.
Source: Rappi
The Colombian entrepreneurs started Rappi four and a half years ago to see if they could improve how quickly online grocers fulfilled orders. (Rappi is a play on rápido, Spanish for “fast.”) With some 200,000 bike couriers in nine countries, it shaved about a fifth off the delivery times offered by its competitors. Today, Rappi is one of Latin America’s most valuable startups, worth about $3.5 billion, according to people familiar with its financials. The app is quickly becoming a super app akin to those of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Meituan Dianping in Asia, giving users access to about 100,000 businesses offering services as diverse as manicures, electric-scooter rentals, and vehicle insurance.