Amsterdam-based INKEF Capital leads €5M Series A funding round of this Dutch startup

Of late, the marketplace model has been gaining a lot of momentum, encouraging many small to medium businesses to set up online stores. However, once a seller starts to manage multiple accounts on marketplaces, the experience can be nerve-wracking at times. 

It takes some work and skill to keep things running smoothly and create a fluid customer experience. Meanwhile, if you are wondering how to handle them all at once, ChannelEngine is here to help you. 

Based out of Leiden, ChannelEngine helps brands, wholesalers, and retailers to effectively sell on marketplaces in a fully automated way. 

Raised €5M funding

Recently, the Dutch company has received €5M in Series A funding led by INKEF Capital, with participation from existing investor Airbridge Equity Partners.

The Dutch company will be using the funding to continue the rollout in Europe and to expand into APAC, Russia, the Middle East as well as both North and South America. On top of that, ChannelEngine plans to hire 70 new employees worldwide in 2021 across various levels and roles.

Getting most out of marketplaces

Founded by Jorrit Steinz, ChannelEngine gives businesses of any size the chance to expand their reach, connect with more consumers, and grow their business.

With a single SaaS integration, the Dutch startup connects sellers’ systems to international marketplaces and sales channels while optimising sales, minimising time, and maximising profit and reach.

According to ChannelEngine, “We help brands to gain control by selling directly on multiple online marketplaces. We help distributors to boost their revenues with better margins. We help retailers by selling more products wherever customers are searching for them.”

Facilitated over 3 million products

At present, the Dutch company works with global brands including JBL, Bugaboo, and Staples, amongst hundreds of others. As per the company’s claims, ChannelEngine facilitates the sale of over 3 million products from 1500 brands to over 100 marketplaces.

Jorrit Steinz, CEO & Founder of ChannelEngine says, “On a global scale, e-commerce is becoming a driving force of all retail sales. Customers have shifted their search behaviour for products from search engines to marketplaces. Large e-commerce players, as well as search engines, social media platforms, and comparison sites, are turning into marketplaces themselves.”

“While this creates more sales opportunities for brands and retailers, they are faced with the challenge of managing all these different channels at the same time. That’s why we’ve built ChannelEngine, a powerful Software as a Service platform that enables Brands, Retailers, and Distributors to connect, automate, and manage their sales on all these international sales channels,” he adds. 

INKEF

Amstedam-based INKEF Capital is a venture capital firm that backs promising early-stage companies in Europe. Its focus areas are technology and healthcare. “INKEF Capital covers multiple investment stages but focuses mainly on series A investments. For exceptional teams it also considers seed capital to turn a great idea into a company or growth capital to give a running start-up the next push,” says the firm.