Advent Heads South for NetLogistiK Deal –

MEXICO CITY – Advent International recently led a $4 million Series A investment in netLogistiK, an online logistics marketplace focused on the transportation industry. Advent invested $1 million in the Mexico City-based issuer through its $185 million Latin American Private Equity Fund.

While Advent has approximately 60% of its Latin American portfolio invested in Mexico, this deal represents the firm’s first Internet-specific investment in the country.

“We liked that they had good business sense, and identified a clear need in the marketplace,” said Diego Serebrisky, a principal with Advent International in Mexico City. “Latin American freight transportation is a $60 billion market, and is extremely fragmented. As a first-mover in Internet-based logistics services, netLogistiK has all the attributes for a successful business-to-business play.”

Other institutional investors involved in the deal included Argentinean incubator Btobem and Mexican private equity firm ProCorp.

Rene Fernandez, chief executive with netLogistiK, said that his firm will use the investment monies to focus on developing its support functions and commercial forces in Mexico and Argentina (where the firm is already up and running). It also plans to expand into Brazil.

“They brought in a very experienced CEO [in Fernandez],” Serebrisky said. “He has experience and contacts [which] gave us an additional degree of comfort. This guy is betting his career on this.”

NetLogistiK also recently formed an alliance with Atlanta-based CarrierPoint, whereby netLogistiK will be the exclusive Latin American user of CarrierPoint software. This technology enables shippers and carriers to meet online to fulfill less-than-truckload (LTL) and full truckload shipments in both medium and large trucking markets. CarrierPoint is also a beneficial owner in netLogistiK.