Peixeurbano
5 known investors
Peixe Urbano operates an online business directory for Brazil, listing registered companies such as restaurants along with addresses and user reviews. It lets users search for local businesses by category and location.
Also known as Peixe Urbano
Investors · 5
Also in the syndicate · 4
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Peixe Urbano is a Brazilian internet company launched in Rio de Janeiro in March 2010 as the country's first collective-buying (group discount) site, following a Groupon-style model that connected local service providers with large numbers of nearby consumers via discounted vouchers. In its first nine months it registered more than 5 million users and sold more than 2 million vouchers, and by January 2011 it operated in 34 Brazilian cities with 300 employees.
The peixeurbano.com.br site currently presents itself as the largest list of registered companies in Brazil, functioning as an online directory of local businesses. Users can browse or search by category — including gyms, dentists, real-estate agencies, psychologists, restaurants, Italian restaurants and veterinarians — and by city, with coverage highlighted for Curitiba, Florianópolis, Porto Alegre, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Listings include the business name, category, full street address, an average star rating and a review count, with ranked lists such as top-rated restaurants in Curitiba. The site also hosts a blog and a page describing the project.
Founding story
The project began in early 2010 as a partnership among three friends with experience in international e-commerce, social media and marketing: Julio Vasconcellos, Emerson Andrade (Emerson Daniel Andrade) and Alex Tabor (Alexander Ferraz Tabor). Vasconcellos, previously Facebook's country manager for Brazil, served as co-founder and managing director. Their aim was a business model using the Internet's mobilization power to create a win-win link between the best local service providers in each city and consumers looking to discover establishments near their homes.
Business model
Originally a collective-purchasing marketplace: the company aggregated consumer demand for discounted offers from local merchants, presenting a model in which merchants attracted and retained new customers while consumers obtained savings — more than R$120 million in savings for users in the first nine months. The present site aggregates listings of registered Brazilian companies with ratings and reviews, organized by category and city.
Traction
1 million registered users by August 2010; over 5 million registered users and more than 2 million vouchers sold in the first nine months of operation, generating over R$120 million in savings for users; 34 cities and 300 employees as of January 2011. The current directory displays large review volumes on individual listings, such as 27,894 reviews for one Curitiba restaurant.
Latest developments
The website operates as a category- and city-based directory of registered Brazilian businesses with user ratings and reviews, promoting a feature that groups the best-rated companies by category. A third-party profile lists the company's status as active with a last funding date of January 2012 and an estimated employee range of 501–1,000.
▸Full profile — market position, go-to-market, geography, history
Market position
Described in its Series A announcement as the pioneer and leader of the collective-buying market in Brazil and the first site of its kind in the country, and as one of Brazil's main internet companies; Groupon also operated in Brazil at that time. The current site positions itself as the largest list of registered companies in Brazil.
Go-to-market
Direct-to-consumer online acquisition of registered users, paired with recruitment of local merchants city by city; the company said it was continuing to add Brazilian cities and was building out sales, engineering and executive headcount after its first round.
Brazilian consumers seeking local services and establishments in their city, and local businesses — restaurants, gyms, dentists, real-estate agencies, psychologists, veterinarians and other service providers — that want exposure to nearby customers.
Geography
Brazil only. At the time of the Series A announcement the service was in 34 cities, including São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Curitiba, Brasília, Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre, Recife, Campinas, Niterói, Goiânia, Florianópolis, Salvador, ABC Paulista, Ribeirão Preto, Fortaleza, Vale do Sinos, Joinville, São José dos Campos, Caxias do Sul, Santos, Natal, Vitória, Sorocaba, Londrina, Belém, Campo Grande, São José do Rio Preto, João Pessoa, Cuiabá, Manaus, Uberlândia, Maringá and Maceió. The current directory highlights Curitiba, Florianópolis, Porto Alegre, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
History
The service launched in Rio de Janeiro in March 2010 and scaled quickly, reaching 1 million registered users by August 2010 and over 5 million by January 2011, when it was present in 34 cities and employed 300 people. In December 2010, businessman and television presenter Luciano Huck joined as a new partner. A Series A round from Benchmark Capital and Monashees Capital was completed in the last quarter of 2010 and announced in January 2011, with Matt Cohler (Benchmark) and Eric Acher (Monashees) taking board seats. Later financing stages listed on a third-party profile include a Series B in May 2011 with General Atlantic and Tiger Global Management, and Series C activity in December 2011 and January 2012 involving T. Rowe Price, General Atlantic and Monashees. The current website operates as a directory of rated Brazilian businesses.
Compiled by commissioned research from 3 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 5
launches, deals, and filingsBenchmark Capital, in its first Brazilian investment, and Monashees Capital invested in a Series A round completed in the final quarter of 2010; the size was not disclosed. Proceeds were earmarked for hiring senior executives and sales, engineering and executive staff in Brazil and abroad.
Matt Cohler of Benchmark Capital and Eric Acher of Monashees Capital took board seats in connection with the Series A round.
The service reported presence in 34 cities across Brazil, with further city launches planned.
Businessman and TV presenter Luciano Huck joined the company as a new partner.
The collective-buying site launched in Rio de Janeiro in March 2010, the first service of its kind in Brazil.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 3
primary sources listed
- Peixeurbanopeixeurbano.com.br · web
3 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Peixeurbano do?
- Brazilian internet company that pioneered group-buying deals and now runs a nationwide directory of rated local businesses.
- Who are Peixeurbano's investors?
- Peixeurbano's investors include MONASHEES.