May 2020
RETAIL TECHNOLOGIES
Sales Layer has secured €3.5 million in a Series A investment round led by Sonae IM
Sales Layer today announced that it has raised €3.5 million in Series A financing led by European-based corporate investor Sonae IM. Hispano-israeli venture capital Swanlaab Venture Factory and corporate investor Global Omnium joined the round. The funding will enable Sales Layer to scale international operations, invest in sales and marketing, expand its operational infrastructure as growth demands and provide further support for its customer success teams.
Increased scope
Founded by entrepreneurs Álvaro Verdoy and Iban Borràs, Sales Layer has become one of the leading solutions in Product Information Management, helping brands and retailers to transform their catalogs into a digital, enriched and multichannel control centre.
PIM technology is replacing outdated in-house or legacy tools for the sharing of product information. The disruptive technology uses a cloud-based catalog management platform to connect information to hundreds of channels throughout the supply chain.
Sales Layer is now positioned as a challenger that can revolutionize how retailers approach their catalog management in online shopping and product experience for their customers. This trend has just fast-forwarded with the recent pandemic crisis, where businesses realised they can no longer afford not to have online presence.
Accelerated growth
With the recent surge in online retail due to the pandemic, innovation and investment in digital infrastructure is becoming essential for retailers worldwide. Sales Layer, as a critical piece of this landscape has seen immediate growth as a result, bringing unprecedented attention from the retail market.
Previous to this, Sales Layer was already showing exceptional revenue growth (over 300%, 2018-2020) and an accelerated global expansion bringing in over 200 new accounts in more than 25 countries. The company’s client base now includes global manufacturers and retailers such as Teka, Rexel, Bobux, Reebok and Fermax.
Sales Layer will now look to scale its international operations and triple its team to over 80 employees, expanding its infrastructure and offering the very best customer success support for its clients.
Young entrepreneur, founder and CEO Álvaro Verdoy:
“Our aim is to help product marketing departments to manage the complexity of connecting millions of SKUs, images and attributes that have to be enriched collaboratively across a growing number of sales channels.”
“Digital catalogs are key revenue drivers for modern business, but they are also the biggest digital transformation challenge for millions of manufacturers and retailers. The recent times with the impact of COVID on people’s lives, has put digitalisation and ecommerce on the priority list. Sales Layer can definitely play a central part in this new normal, where online presence is key. Also, the role of Sonae IM, a retail tech specialist coming from a multinational group with retail in its DNA, shows the growing interest in Product Information Management solutions.
According to Eduardo Piedade, CEO of leading investor Sonae IM: “Product content is a key element for sales and marketing and a clear differentiator for online retail and brands. We recognised in Sales Layer product, a highly efficient, easy to use and consistent way to manage product information internally and across the rising number of channels. We are a firm believer of omnichannel and the current crisis has just came to highlight the need for retailers to diversify the ways they reach consumers. As an active investor specialized in Retail, we are excited to support such a strong player in the PIM space, namely throughout an ambitious international growth plan.”
About Sales Layer
Sales Layer is a leading Product Information Management (PIM) platform. The SaaS platform centralizes catalog information, replacing in-house or legacy tools, and connecting product information to multiple sales channels, e-commerce sites, retail technologies, marketplaces and B2B platforms.
Now with the backing of Sonae IM, Swanlaab, Global Omnium and Plug and Play, Sales Layer will see a predicted growth of 300%. Its current client base counts over 200 customers, with over 2400 businesses actively using the application. This network includes global manufacturers and retailers such as Teka, Rexel, Bobux, Reebok, Fermax and more. With the investment announced today, Sales Layer has raised €5 million in total venture funding.
About Sonae IM
Sonae IM is the technology investment arm of Sonae Group, a multinational exceeding €6 billion in revenues with core activities in retail and telecommunications.
Sonae IM invests in retail and telecommunications technology companies, as well as in cybersecurity. Sonae IM has 33 direct investments, encompassing stakes in companies from early stage to growth stage and stakes in 20 companies through Armilar Venture Partners.
About Swanlaab Venture Factory
Swanlaab Venture Factory is a Spanish-Israeli Venture Capital fund manager based in Madrid and Tel-Aviv. Since 1992 has invested over $600M through 7 funds and is geographically focused in Israel, Poland and Spain. Swanlaab invests in companies in early stages, mainly Series A and B, focusing on product, high doses of scalability and B2B business models in which technological differentiation has a relevant weight. Historically, the group has made more than 130 investments and has achieved more than 40 successful exits.
About Global Omnium
Global Omnium focuses its activity on the management of the Integral Water Cycle. Throughout its 125-year history, Global Omnium has worked towards the progress and growth of more than 300 municipalities worldwide, improving their environment through research, implementation of management systems and telecommunications in order to make more liveable cities.
Global Omnium has incorporated into the world market a strategy solution for the digital transformation of the water industry: Go Aigua, an effective technology to accompany companies in the revolution involved in the interpretation and management of data.
Through GoHub, Global Omnium helps deep tech startups set to become game changers and disruptors in water tech, industry 4.0 and smart cities.
