Backing Nauta: the AI Operating System for Latin American Trade

Overview

I’m thrilled to back Nauta in their competitive PreSeed round via Predictive. Nauta is building a pioneering AI-powered operating system for the Latin American trade and logistics industry, automating traditionally manual workflows across 9+ different stakeholders in the ship-based container movement process – accounting for about 80% of global trade.

Nauta is compatible with leading logistics software including Fourkites (US based), Cargowise (Australia based), and Project44 (US based), along with freight forwarding platforms like Nowports (LatAm based) and Flexport (US based).

I’ll unpack why Nauta is positioned as a category leader at a critical inflection point of trade in Latin America.

Why Now

Trade Reorientation: Global trade reorientation is driving exponential growth in import and export volume through Latin America, creating a perfect storm for an AI operating system like Nauta. Key factors include:

• Assertive US Trade Policies Against China: President Elect Donald Trump plans to assert a strong China stance, including (1) implementing high (60%) tariffs on imports from China, (2) phasing out critical Chinese imports including electronics, steel, and pharmaceuticals, and (3) mitigating Chinese investments in the US in areas that may impact national security. Given the US and China are the two largest importers & exporters in the world by volume, the implications are massive — the US will seek to meet import demands from other regions, including Latin America.

• US Nearshoring in LatAm: One result of growing trade tension between the US and China is the aggressive relocation of manufacturing for US corporations to local countries like Mexico, with cost efficient labor and reliable supply chains. In fact, Mexico overtook China as the biggest source of US imports in 2023.

• Growing LatAm Export Volume to Asia: Meanwhile, as China seeks to fill gaps in key imports, including in areas like agriculture and raw materials (which Latin America is rich in), we’re likely going to see revisions to trade agreements that bolster the trade corridor between Latin America and Asia. A growth in Latin American export demand by China will likely have a ripple effect on other Asian countries like Japan and Korea, which will also double down on trade relations with Latin America to remain competitive.

• E-Commerce Growth in LatAm: E-commerce growth is expected to accelerate by 20-30% annually across key Latin American countries including Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia. E-commerce growth will drive import demand, particularly in areas like consumer electronics, fashion, and cosmetics, therefore also requiring developments in distribution and last mile delivery (which I expect will greatly benefit incumbents like Rappi).

• Increased Regulatory Scrutiny: As trade volumes increase in Latin America and political dynamics become more complex, regulatory governance of trade will become far more stringent. This includes in areas like import licensing, border procedures, and payment monitoring, where manual data management & processes no longer cut it in the face of regulatory scrutiny.

Essentially, Latin America is becoming a trade fulcrum between the West and the East, with exporters in the US and Asia, respectively, aggressively driving trade volume through Latin America. We’re already seeing this dynamic play out, and I expect the trends visualized in this chart will accelerate given stated policies of the incoming US administration:

Receptiveness to AI: Meanwhile, stakeholders in the Latin American trade value chain are now increasingly receptive to adopting AI. The last few years have featured the digitization of trade foundations, including the coordination of freight movement (freight forwarding). The ecosystem is now ripe for AI implementation that harnesses these digital building blocks, driving unprecedented coordination & automation. Key factors include:

• Software Proof Points: Software for freight forwarding in Latin America was developed by pioneers like Nowports, which have successfully proven market receptiveness for innovation in a traditionally manual & paper based industry. Nowports hit a unicorn valuation in 2022 and is focused on the digital management of shipping containers, addressing delays or losses accounting for up to half of the 54 million containers moved to and from Latin America each year.

• Growing Stakeholder Complexity: As trade volumes accelerate, existing manual processes for a range of key stakeholders in the value chain are unsustainable. In most cases, stakeholders continue to rely on faxes, calls, and emails to share data and communicate key insights, often requiring the coordination of over 50 various documents including purchase orders, invoices, bills of landing, delivery receipts, and more. These stakeholders include ~9 different personas:

  • Exporters

  • Importers

  • Freight forwarders

  • Maritime lines

  • Port operators

  • Land transportation

  • Customs agent brokers

  • Financial institutions

  • Insurance companies

• AI Reaching Requisite Precision: LLMs have reached a level of precision required to support the unification of mission critical data across logistical documents and financial data, along with the automation of operational workflows via AI agents. This inflection point unlocks a ripe window of opportunity for Nauta to:

  • Integrate with existing digital building blocks in the region, unify stakeholders, and apply AI agents across the entire logistical stack.

  • Ride the digitization narrative in their go-to-market motion.

Why Nauta

Stellar Leadership Team: Building AI solutions for the trade and logistics industry requires deep customer empathy paired with precise product R&D. I believe Nauta's leadership team is the best equipped in Latin America to nail this solution, pairing a product building blueprint from Latin American unicorn Rappi ($5.2BN+ valuation) with extensive firsthand experience running one of the most impactful importing businesses in the Caribbean in Jose Santiago.

CoFounder & CEO, Valentina Jordan, was previously Head of Product at Rappi, a venture capital investor at leading Latin American venture firm Canary, and Head of Seller Success at Amazon Mexico.

CoFounder & COO Rafael Santiago led one of the most significant importing & logistics companies in LatAm in Jose Santiago, Inc, headquartered in Puerto Rico.

And in just a few short months, Nauta has put together an impressive team that includes:

• Head of Product & Engineering, Sebastian Munguia Munaux, who was previously an Engineering Manager at Rappi

• Head of Engineering, Jose Mejia Castillo, who was previously an engineering manager at Mercado Libre

• Head of Experience & Design, Raianne Senna, who was previously the Lead Product Designer at Rappi

• Head of Growth & Partnerships, Gabriela Dominguez, who was previously Global Head of Brand Marketing at Rappi and Global Head of Partnerships at Rappi

• Head of Expansion, Santiago Suarez Mendoza, who was previously a Senior Business Lead at Tul, the leading wholesale construction marketplace in LatAm

Ripe Target Market Segment: The trade and logistics market across the western hemisphere is massive at $360BN across the US and Latin America alone. Nauta is going after an initial $92BN segment of this market, focused on AI-powered operations for shipping stakeholders in Latin America (starting with 60,000+ importers in Mexico and the Caribbean).

Lucrative Vertical Expansion Opportunities: As a platform unifying mission-critical operational workflows, Nauta is positioned to capitalize on meaningful vertical expansion opportunities including payments and lending. There is a fascinating intersection between trade and stablecoin payments in Latin America, for example, given the need for large scale cross-border payments by importers and exporters. Partnering with leading stablecoin payment providers can enable Nauta to facilitate substantial cost savings for stakeholders via one integrated product.

Global from Day Zero: Nauta is global from day zero. Beyond Latin America, the team has a tremendous opportunity to capture the LatAm to Asia trade corridor, which is expected to more than double in annual volume by 2035 to $700BN. Entering Asia isn’t for the faint of heart, requiring a native understanding of the nuances of the region. However, Nauta already has a meaningful ground floor network in the region.

If you have any thoughts or suggestions, reach me anytime at [email protected]. 

______

DISCLAIMER:

Predictive is an institutional investor in Nauta. Content contained above is not intended as, and shall not be understood or construed as, financial advice. All views and ideas expressed are my own.