Utrecht-based Channext, a Software-as-a-Service platform that makes an online connection between vendors and business partners, announced on Tuesday, September 27, that it has raised €4.5M in a Series A round of funding.
The investment was led by Holland Capital, who invested together with the Graduate Entrepreneur Fund and current investors.
Capital utilisation
Channext says that with the raised funding, it aims to become the European market leader and connect its first US customers.
Rick van den Bosch, CEO of Channext, says, “Our ambition is to grow to 10,000 business partners. We’re launching with two vendors in the US this month, and aim to significantly grow that number over the coming 18 months.”
Partner marketing engagement platform
Despite billions of dollars being allocated for channel marketing every year, there’s little to no insight into the results and ROI of these budgets. Brands are frustrated that their well-invested marketing and product content doesn’t reach the end customer of their resellers. This is where Channext looks to make a difference.
Founded in 2018 by Rick van den Bosch, the Dutch startup aims to reshape the way ICT vendors like Cisco, Fujitsu, and Logitech go to market with their indirect channel of B2B resellers.
Rick van den Bosch says, “Less than 10 per cent of business partners participate in their vendors’ marketing activities. The vendors that we work with often have thousands of business partners. It’s impossible to help each one in their individual marketing efforts. Channext is a platform that allows vendors to help partners do marketing and increase their revenue at scale.”
Channext claims that by using its platform, vendors can increase their marketing participation from less than 10 per cent to over 90 per cent on average. The company says that its platform automates the process of launching marketing campaigns to reseller websites, social media profiles, and online advertising accounts.
Channext’s platform automatically retrieves the data of reseller marketing channels to create a dashboard that provides insight into important channel sales and marketing KPIs such as total reach, interaction with end customers, and generated leads.
The company offers a marketplace of over 1,000 business partners. Its services are currently active in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, France, and the UK.
In June 2021, Channext raised €700K in Seed round for European expansion and announced the relocation of its headquarters. Its office is in the revamped Le Mirage building, Vliegend Hertlaan 65-67, located near Utrecht Central station.
Brief about the investors
Holland Capital has invested ethically and profitably in more than 150 SMEs over the past 40 years. The firm participates in the growth areas of healthcare and technology with a well-defined investment strategy. A large network of prosperous healthcare and technology business owners supports Holland Capital.
The Graduate Entrepreneur Fund is a €56M early-stage fund, supported by a group of successful Erasmus University Rotterdam, Erasmus MC, and TU Delft alumni. The Fund backs young businesses that develop technologies strongly aligned with the universities in Delft and Rotterdam, including healthtech, greentech, digitaltech, and deeptech.
