In another sign that B2B and retail marketplaces are indeed a part of the ecommerce mainstream, a prominent marketplace technology company has raised a big new round of money to further its expansion.

Mirakl, a provider of marketplaces technology and services to both B2B companies and retailers—including heavy power and electrical equipment manufacturer ABB Ltd and Toyota Material Handling—has raised $555 million in a funding round led by investment firm Silver Lake, a private investment firm based in Menlo Park, Calif., and additional investors including 83North, Elaia Partners, Felix Capital, and Permira.

Mirakl has raised more than $850 million in new working capital in less than a year and will use the money to expand in a variety of areas, Mirakl says. With the latest round of funding, Mirakl says its market valuation is now more than $3.5 billion.

The company, which operates in 14 countries and has primary offices in Paris and Boston, has yet to say if the recent infusions of capital is a sign that Mirakl intends at some point to become a public company. “Mirakl is looking to accelerate its growth but will do it in the way that best balances the interests of customers, shareholders and employees—becoming IPO-ready is a notable way to do that,” says Mirakl chief marketing officer Joe Sawyer.

Mirakl has specific plans to use its new funding to grow the company in several ways. The company plans to hire as many 350 more engineers and grow its total engineering headcount to 500 by 2023. The push for more advanced digital technology will focus on areas such as artificial intelligence to add new features that will enable buyers and sellers to better manage supply chain planning and disruption. “One major focus is on enabling new customer business models, such as unified drop-shipping,” Sawyer says.

Mirakl also plans to use the funding to:

• Double the size of what the company calls its “customer success organization” to 200 employees;
• Keep expanding Mirakl Connect, its marketplace technology platform for sellers;
• Expand Mirakl’s 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,” the company says;
• Evaluating and pursuing business development opportunities, including acquisitions;
• Using data and artificial intelligence to drive up efficiency and scale for companies as they deploy enterprise marketplaces;
• Help companies extend their marketplace models with such services as drop-shipping.

“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,” says co-founder and c0-CEO Adrien Nussenbaum.

Mirakl has yet to reveal the combined annual gross merchandise volume that is generated by buyers and sellers using its marketplace applications services. But Mirakl does say it has a workforce of 560 employees. “Our biggest challenge is continuing to execute at scale,” Sawyer says.

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