Amsterdam – January 19, 2021 – ChannelEngine, the marketplace integration platform for distributed e-commerce, enabling brands and retailers to manage and optimize their product listings and orders across online sales channels, announces €5 million in Series A funding led by INKEF Capital, with participation from existing investor Airbridge Equity Partners.
ChannelEngine is on a mission to bridge the gap between the backend systems of its customers and online sales channels such as Amazon, Zalando, Google, eBay and many more, on a global scale. The current need for new solutions in the market, combined with the rapid speed at which companies are moving to direct-to-consumer (D2C) marketplace sales, makes it the ideal time for companies to leverage ChannelEngine’s innovative e-commerce platform, to scale up faster and more efficiently.
Having more than tripled its revenue in 2020 with limited funding, ChannelEngine has raised this €5 million Series A round to accelerate its global rollout and continue the development of their product and channels. The funding round will be used to continue the rollout in Europe, and to expand into APAC, Russia, the Middle East as well as both North and South America. In addition, the company plans to hire 70 new employees worldwide in 2021 across various levels and roles.
Kyang Yung, Junior Partner at INKEF comments that “It goes without saying that the company has grown like a rocket ship off the back of COVID, although pre-COVID rates were already more than impressive. And, as brands across the globe are finally taking the leap to go direct-to-consumer, ChannelEngine’s customer roster now also boasts some pretty impressive global brands. For us, it was the interesting market position, the traction, and last but not least, the team’s deep domain knowledge of e-commerce which made us decide to make this strong, conviction-based investment.”
With e-commerce currently driving more than 18% of global retail, a number increasing rapidly since the dawn of the pandemic, and marketplaces generating more than 50% of this revenue, growing towards 75%, it is clear that the market is heading in one direction. With new marketplaces being launched globally, this shift further underlines the importance of connecting to, managing and integrating with a range of sales channels through one central platform. Trusted by global brands such as JBL, Bugaboo and Staples, amongst hundreds of others, ChannelEngine is ready to claim its position as a global market leader within the e-commerce marketplace space.
Jorrit Steinz, CEO & Founder of ChannelEngine adds, “On a global scale, e-commerce is becoming a driving force of all retail sales. Customers have shifted their search behavior for products from search engines to marketplaces. Large e-commerce players, as well as search engines, social media platforms and comparison sites are turning into marketplaces themselves. While this creates more sales opportunities for brands and retailers, they are faced with the challenge of managing all these different channels at the same time. That’s why we’ve built ChannelEngine, a powerful Software as a Service platform that enables Brands, Retailers and Distributors to connect, automate and manage their sales on all these international sales channels.”
About ChannelEngine
With a single powerful Software as a Service integration, ChannelEngine.com connects a sellers systems to international marketplaces and sales channels while optimizing sales, minimizing time, and maximizing profit and reach. It offers brands, distributors, and retailers automated order and return systems, an advanced management suite and rich partner ecosystem, to bring their sales to the next level.
ChannelEngine empowers companies by creating a seamless integration between businesses and marketplaces. Learn more: www.channelengine.com.
About InkefINKEF Capital is a leading venture capital firm based in Amsterdam with a proven history in backing promising early stage companies in Europe. INKEF takes pride in being a patient, long-term investor with the ability to support companies through several rounds of funding. From the early stages of being a technology or life science venture, INKEF Capital supports entrepreneurs building their ideas into successful international businesses. Learn more: www.inkef
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