Amazon has acquired a stake in Colombian delivery platform Rappi through a $25mn convertible note, Bloomberg reported.

The transaction grants the Seattle-based retailer warrants to purchase up to 12% of Rappi, positioning the US giant to challenge MercadoLibre's long-standing dominance across Latin America's rapidly expanding digital commerce landscape.

The deal represents Amazon's latest effort to penetrate the region's last-mile delivery market, where infrastructure challenges have historically limited international expansion. Rappi, known as a "super-App", operates across nine countries from Mexico to Chile, offering 10-minute grocery deliveries and financial services, including credit cards and savings accounts through its fintech branch RappiPay.

According to PCMI estimates, Latin America's e-commerce market is projected to reach $769bn in 2025, posting 21% growth year-on-year, with Brazil and Mexico alone commanding a combined regional market share of 75.2%. Amazon already operates logistics centres in the region's first and second economies, but lacks the hyper-local delivery infrastructure that has made Rappi ubiquitous in urban centres.

The investment strengthens existing commercial ties, as Rappi utilises Amazon Web Services for cloud computing whilst offering Prime members free deliveries in Mexico. However, regulators may scrutinise the partnership given its implications for both the payments and logistics sectors.

For now, MercadoLibre remains the regional leader with established payment rails through Mercado Pago and logistics network Mercado Envios. The Argentine-founded platform attracted 321mn shoppers in February alone, surpassing Amazon Brasil by 11%.

Rappi co-founder Simón Borrero stated the company is preparing for a New York listing in 2025, having secured a $100mn loan from Santander and Kirkoswald Capital Partners. While the Amazon partnership may complicate these IPO plans, it could potentially accelerate regional consolidation.

For the US tech behemoth, this modest investment provides optionality in a market where traditional warehouse-centric models have struggled against super-app ecosystems that integrate commerce, payments and rapid delivery.