Bloomreach, a vendor providing search and content management systems to ecommerce retailers, raised $150 million from investment firm Sixth Street Growth. The funding, which gives Bloomreach a valuation of $900 million, is part of the company’s push to expand its current services.
Additionally, Bloomreach acquired Exponea, a marketing automation platform that also houses customer data. The acquisition allows Bloomreach to offer marketing tools alongside its search and content products. Bloomreach did not disclose how much it paid for Exponea.
Both companies rely heavily on shopper and browsing data to drive artificial intelligence that help automate their personalization offerings. Exponea allows Bloomreach to offer more personalization across channels like email, texts and social networks, instead of just personalizing sites and search like it did previously.
Exponea will continue to be a standalone product, but Bloomreach plans to integrate some of its capabilities into other Bloomreach products as well. In addition to the new features, Exponea brings 250 new customers (for a total of 750 now) and 200 new employees to Bloomreach’s 300-person company, for 500 employees total.
Bloomreach is the No. 8 provider of site search and No. 10 provider of content management systems in Digital Commerce 360’s Leading Vendors to the Top 1000 report.
In other funding news:
- Shipping carrier UPS is selling its short-haul trucking business for $800 million to Canadian shipper TFI International. The eight-decades-old unit, separate from the package-delivery operation for which UPS is known, is primarily a business-to-business enterprise hauling large industrial cargo in big trucks. Its the first substantial move in the “better-not-bigger” strategy that Carol Tome developed since taking over as chief executive officer in June.
- Online glasses retailer GlassesUSA closed on a $45 million funding round from Tene Investment Fundlast week. The glasses brand, owned by Israeli Optimax Eyewear, carries frames from well-known brands like Ray Ban and Persol, but generates more than 50% of sales from its five private labels. The funding will help GlassesUSA add a U.S.-based fulfillment center and expand research and development.
- Online-only outdoor furniture brand Outer raised $10.5 million in a Series A round of funding, led by Sequoia Capital China. Other investors include many ecommerce giants, like the co-founders of Harry’s (No. 146 in the 2020 Digital Commerce 360 Top 1000) Andy Katz-Mayfield and Jeff Raider, Boll & Branch (No. 363) founder Scott Tannen and others. Outer grew sales 1,000% over the past year, according to private equity news site Finsmes.
- Private equity firm Trilantic North America invested in ecommerce platform Orva, which helps apparel brands list products through online marketplaces like those operated by Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc., Nos. 3 and 10 in the Digital Commerce 360 Top 100 Online Marketplaces. Orva started as a regional chain of physical stores, but pivoted to helping brands sell direct to consumer through marketplaces. Terms of the investment were not disclosed.
- London-based local payments provider PPRO is now valued at over $1 billion after raising $180 million from Eurazeo Growth, Sprints Capital and Wellington Management to expand its reach. The company, which last announced funding six months ago with $50 million from Sprints Capital and others, doubled transaction volumes during the fourth quarter of 2020 and expanded its team by 60% last year. The new funding will help PPRO expand into new markets like Singapore and Indonesia, according to a press release from the payment provider.