Sales Layer today announced that it has raised €3.5 million in Series A financing led by European-based corporate investor Sonae IM, the tech investment arm of Sonae, multinational with a diversified portfolio of brands with market leading positions, namely in retail and telecom. Hispano-israeli venture capital Swanlaab Venture Factory and corporate investor Global Omnium joined the round. The funding will enable Sales Layer to scale international operations, invest in sales and marketing, expand its operational infrastructure as growth demands and provide further support for its customer success teams.
Increased scope
Founded by entrepreneurs Álvaro Verdoy and Iban Borràs, Sales Layer has become one of the leading solutions in Product Information Management, helping brands and retailers to transform their catalogs into a digital, enriched and multichannel control centre.
PIM technology is replacing outdated in-house or legacy tools for the sharing of product information. The disruptive technology uses a cloud-based catalog management platform to connect information to hundreds of channels throughout the supply chain.
Sales Layer is now positioned as a challenger that can revolutionize how retailers approach their catalog management in online shopping and product experience for their customers. This trend has just fast-forwarded with the recent pandemic crisis, where businesses realised they can no longer afford not to have online presence.
Accelerated growth
With the recent surge in online retail due to the pandemic, innovation and investment in digital infrastructure is becoming essential for retailers worldwide. Sales Layer, as a critical piece of this landscape has seen immediate growth as a result, bringing unprecedented attention from the retail market.
Previous to this, Sales Layer was already showing exceptional revenue growth (over 300%, 2018-2020) and an accelerated global expansion bringing in over 200 new accounts in more than 25 countries. The company’s client base now includes global manufacturers and retailers such as Teka, Rexel, Bobux, Reebok and Fermax.
Sales Layer will now look to scale its international operations and triple its team to over 80 employees, expanding its infrastructure and offering the very best customer success support for its clients.
Young entrepreneur, founder and CEO Álvaro Verdoy, explains that their aim “is to help product marketing departments to manage the complexity of connecting millions of SKUs, images and attributes that have to be enriched collaboratively across a growing number of sales channels.”
“Digital catalogs are key revenue drivers for modern business, but they are also the biggest digital transformation challenge for millions of manufacturers and retailers. The recent times with the impact of COVID on people’s lives, has put digitalisation and ecommerce on the priority list. Sales Layer can definitely play a central part in this new normal, where online presence is key. Also, the role of Sonae IM, a retail tech specialist coming from a multinational group with retail in its DNA, shows the growing interest in Product Information Management solutions.
According to Eduardo Piedade, CEO of leading investor Sonae IM, “product content is a key element for sales and marketing and a clear differentiator for online retail and brands. We recognised in Sales Layer product, a highly efficient, easy to use and consistent way to manage product information internally and across the rising number of channels. We are a firm believer of omnichannel and the current crisis has just came to highlight the need for retailers to diversify the ways they reach consumers. As an active investor specialized in Retail, we are excited to support such a strong player in the PIM space, namely throughout an ambitious international growth plan.”