Elastic Path Software Inc., a Vancouver, British Columbia-based provider of e-commerce technology, has secured C$4 million (US$3.87 million) in equity financing, the company said today. That brings total equity financing over the past 60 days to C$12 million (US$11.61 million).
Elastic Path sells technology that lets retailers and brand manufacturers manage product content and pricing for sale through multiple online venues, including retail e-commerce sites, online marketplaces and mobile apps. Clients include Brazil-based online retailer NetShoes, No. 6 in Internet Retailer’s Top 300 Latin America, and brand manufacturers Sony Corp. and Garmin Ltd.
Elastic Path CEO Harry Chemko says the company will use the financing to “aggressively pursue new business and strategic opportunities in the fast-growing e-commerce software and API commerce markets.” API, or application programming interface, is a core part of Elastic Path’s technology that enables its clients to connect product databases and customer service systems with e-commerce sites and mobile apps.
Chemko says Elastic Path will invest in technology to support retailers of digital as well as physical goods, and that it expects to see particularly strong growth in the market for digital products, such as online games and e-books. “By 2015, analysts project that revenue from digital goods and services will grow 300% faster than e-commerce revenue of physical goods,” he says. “With this financing, we’re in an excellent position to capitalize on that growing opportunity.”
The financing announced today came from venture capital firm Yaletown Venture Partners, also based in Vancouver.
“We were attracted to Elastic Path’s leadership team, their impressive global list of digital commerce customers, and broad technology portfolio, including Cortex, their patent-pending API solution for embedding commerce everywhere,” Yaletown partner Mike Satterfield says. “We believe that enterprises are increasingly looking to API commerce solutions to turn digital experiences into amazing revenue streams, and Elastic Path is at the forefront of that movement.
Elastic Path, which employs more than 130 people worldwide, including at facilities in Vancouver and London, was co-founded in 2000 by Chemko and Mark Williams, executive vice president. Chemko and Williams, as recent graduates of Royal Roads University in 2000, initially launched their business with a $15,000 loan as Ekkon Technologies, changing the name to Elastic Path Software in 2005.
The company’s executive team also includes president and chief operating officer Gord Janzen, a former executive at IBM Corp. who co-founded in 2000 Apparent Networks, a provider of network analysis software. Janzen joined Elastic Path’s board in 2004 and its executive ranks in 2006.
Sal Visca, Elastic Path’s chief technology officer, is a former CTO of Business Objects, a provider of business intelligence software acquired in 2007 by business software company SAP AG. Elastic Path’s vice president of client solutions, Brian Nutt, is a former executive at several technology companies including business intelligence software provider Cognos, which IBM acquired in 2008.