The creative industry and people working within the sector have their priorities straight. They spend most of their time on the creative processes, with project management left on the back burner.
Amsterdam-based Rodeo helps the creative souls with their project management woes. It is project management software vendor company that offers a scalable and off-the-shelf fully automated project management software for the creative industry The company has now raised a notable €7.5M investment from No Such Ventures, a Dutch new-style investment firm.
Accelerating development and global expansion plans
Rodeo was commercially launched in 2016 by Pieter Vos. This latest €7.5M funding for the startup will help with its expansion plans. Additionally, it will enable accelerating new developments and is touted to create new job opportunities for the company’s American and European operations. The fresh funding round was led by No Such Ventures, which is now a new shareholder in the company.
Founded in 2018, No Such Ventures is a new style investment firm, headquartered in Amsterdam. According to the firm, it typically invests between €2M and €8M in growth companies.
“It’s incredible to see what Pieter and his team have built. Not only is Rodeo growing quickly in multiple countries, it also holds making an actual profit in high regard,” says Reinder Lubbers, partner, No Such Ventures.
Solving the creative industry’s problem
Vos is also the founder of Kop of Munt, which is an accounting firm geared at delivering services for the creative industry. In an exclusive conversation with SC, Vos says, “ I discovered that creative companies often struggle with project management, as their main focus and passion lies with the creative process. That realisation inspired me to set out and try to create the perfect software to help these companies with their project management. The resulting software at Rodeo should be a joy to work with and look at.“
When Vos founded the company, the biggest challenge was to insource IT and build a product without too much upfront cost. Now, Rodeo operates in four countries with its headquarter in Amsterdam and an office in New York. Vos notes that their target audience ‘greatly appreciate’ the platform and their feedback has been valuable in adding new features. The company is active in the Netherlands, Germany, the UK, and the US.
Competition, future plans and more
Rodeo follows a pure SaaS subscription-based business model and currently, it has angel investors, Vos and No Such Ventures as investors in the company.
According to Vos, the pandemic didn’t really impact Rodeo’s business. “Our software is embedded into our clients daily/operation workflow, and the product is relatively cheap for what it does: managing projects, which diminishes administrative burden and makes sure that invoices are sent out correctly and timely.”
Rodeo has a team of 22 people in Amsterdam and 8 members work out of its US office. The funding will help it expand its US sales rep team to 10 members and enable getting additional hires for the Amsterdam team in several departments. Speaking about expansion plans, Vos notes, “Right now, we’ve got strong positions in NL, UK and DE. We want to expand upon those positions, probably enter a couple of new European countries and most of all, expand in the US.”
With such a high level of competition in the market, Rodeo sets itself apart by offering a robust full suite of solutions. Competitors, on the other hand, seem to be trying to “reduce the number of apps and bring basic features into one app,” says Vos. With good funding now secured by the startup, Vos says future funding rounds are currently optional and not necessary.
Image credits: Rodeo
