Member Article

Mirakl Announces Over £400 Million in Series E Funding to Power Accelerated Growth of World’s Leading Enterprises Through Online Marketplace

Mirakl, the industry’s first and most advanced enterprise marketplace SaaS platform, today announced that the company has raised £401 million ($555 million) in a Series E funding round led by Silver Lake, with participation from long-term investors 83North, Elaia Partners, Felix Capital, and Permira. The new funding increases the company’s valuation to more than £2.5 billion ($3.5 billion).

Mirakl’s valuation has more than doubled since its £217 million ($300 million) Series D funding round announced on September 22, 2020 and led by Permira’s growth fund. The company is poised to accelerate its rapid growth through the continued adoption of its flagship enterprise marketplace platform that already powers billions in gross merchandise value (GMV) and delivers speed, scale and agility for over 300 of the world’s leading brands including FeelUnique, H&M Home, Decathlon, and Toyota Material Handling.

Large enterprises across all industries continue to transform their businesses and rapidly digitise in response to the growing pressures of rising customer demand, decreased margins and competition from digital giants and digital natives alike. The result has been a sharp acceleration in platform and eCommerce adoption. In the United Kingdom, online sales increased by 46.5 per cent in 2020, with Britons spending £110.6bn online as physical stores closed during social lockdowns. Even though physical stores re-opened in April 2021, a further increase of £10bn, a rise of 9 per cent, is expected for online sales this year, according to Retail Research. This growth is mirrored in Mirakl’s growth: the company recorded 90% growth in year-over-year bookings value during the first half of 2021.

This funding will enable Mirakl to reinforce its clear leadership in enterprise marketplaces, continue to significantly invest in its technology, expertise, and partner ecosystem, and grow its teams to help meet the accelerating adoption of the marketplace model.

Areas targeted for investment include: ● Hiring 350 engineers, growing the Mirakl Labs team to 500, by 2023 in order to extend the end-to-end capabilities, scalability and security of its core Mirakl Marketplace Platform technology, with a particular focus on expanding AI, automation, and features that enable complementary new business models including dropship expansion ● Doubling the size of its industry-leading customer success organisation with top talent from elite marketplace operators and industry leaders to accompany customers from business case through to fully scaled marketplace ● Rapidly expanding the size of Mirakl Connect, the largest ecosystem of high-quality, marketplace-ready sellers, enabling any leading enterprise to accelerate its launch and more quickly scale assortment for the benefit of its customers ● Continuing to expand geographic reach, with a dual focus on growing its Paris and Boston headquarters and increasing its footprint across major markets in EMEA, the Americas and Asia Pacific ● Evaluating and pursuing business development opportunities, including compelling acquisition opportunities, in service of ever-greater marketplace success for customers

“The world has shifted irreversibly towards eCommerce, and the enterprise marketplace model has clearly emerged as the only solution that will enable businesses to survive in a competitive global sales environment,” said Adrien Nussenbaum, co-CEO and co-founder of Mirakl. “Mirakl has clearly proven that it offers the most advanced, flexible and scalable platform for businesses to win against competitors and profit from the growth afforded by the marketplace economy. This investment will enable us to pursue new growth opportunities as we work to bring our enterprise marketplace vision to new customers, regions, and industries.”

As buyer needs shifted wildly over the last 18 months, businesses in all industries were pressed to keep pace with disruption to supply chains, product shortages and unpredictable buyer behaviour. Mirakl customers were well positioned to succeed in this environment, as the scale and flexibility of Mirakl-powered Marketplaces enabled them to quickly expand product assortments and respond to increased demand without the burden of owned inventory. With enterprises struggling to keep up with the pace of eCommerce acceleration, the enterprise marketplace has become an imperative for sustainable business transformation.

“When we founded Mirakl, it was in the belief that the world was moving toward an era of customer centricity, that would break traditional business models and require leaders to transform to bring their customers greater choice, more services, and the ability to buy whenever they wanted and wherever they wanted. It was an ambitious vision, and we have taken bold steps to pursue it, always in partnership with our customers,” said Philippe Corrot, CEO and co-founder of Mirakl. “With this investment, Mirakl is better equipped than ever to support customers at every stage of their transformation journeys, with the leading technology, expertise and ecosystem, so they can win in this new challenging commerce landscape.”

“For more than two decades, Silver Lake has successfully identified and supported many of the world’s most disruptive technology and technology-enabled companies, and we are thrilled to partner with Mirakl as it enters its next phase of growth,” said Christian Lucas, Managing Director and Co-Head of Silver Lake EMEA. “This is an extraordinary time for eCommerce, and we see Mirakl as a generational company with a uniquely compelling opportunity to capitalise on that momentum. Investing in founder-led, quality high-growth, impactful and pioneering software-led business models is at the very core of what we do, and we feel privileged and look forward to working with Philippe, Adrien, and the entire Mirakl team to extend the company’s global market-leading position at this pivotal moment in time.”

“Mirakl’s exceptional growth over the past year has reinforced its status as the clear market leader in the enterprise marketplace category,” said Alexandre Margoline, Partner and Head of France at Permira. “As an existing investor, Permira is excited to substantially increase its investment in Mirakl and continue backing Philippe, Adrien and the entire Mirakl team as they further drive the Company’s growth ambition.”

The latest marketplace insight and viewpoints can be found on the Mirakl blog. For more business developments and updates, follow Mirakl on LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Mirakl .