Bold Commerce Raises $35 Million Series B Backed by OMERS
Once known only as Shopify’s largest app developer, Winnipeg-based Bold Commerce is hoping a $35 million CDN ($27 million US) Series B round will help it become the platform to power commerce anywhere and everywhere.
OMERS Ventures led the all-equity round, which saw participation from past investors Whitecap Venture Partners and Round 13 Capital (history does rhyme: OMERS once led Shopify’s Series C round). Bold’s last round, a $22 million Series A in 2019, was also its first — the company had chosen to bootstrap its development since its founding in 2012.
In a recent interview with BetaKit, Bold Commerce CEO and co-founder Yvan Boisjoli claimed Whitecap and Round 13’s decision to follow-on showed “a lot of trust and faith” in the startup.
The CEO also called OMERS’ global footprint especially beneficial in fueling the company’s international growth. Bold Commerce currently works with more than 90,000 brands in over 170 countries, with notables including Harry Rosen, Staples Canada, and Pepsi’s Game Fuel.
“Our goal in Canada is to back companies that have the potential to become category creators,” OMERS Venture Partner Laura Lenz told BetaKit (Lenz will join Bold’s board as part of the financing). “With Bold’s modular approach to e-commerce transactions, we’re confident it fits the bill.”
Bold’s modular approach covers a wide range of commerce needs, from checkout to subscriptions and price rules. The startup works with omnichannel merchants on e-commerce platforms such as Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce, and the company’s dynamic pricing model allows it to maximize its profit from every customer regardless of size, separating Bold from most software developers.
Bold Commerce’s overarching goal, however, is to cater to untapped demand for 'headless commerce,' which refers to separating the retail purchase process from the traditional point of purchase. Boisjoli told BetaKit the new funding will go towards advancing the startup’s ability to offer a platform-agnostic, headless transaction experience, allowing brands to convert shoppers at their “highest point of interest,” meaning wherever brands interact most effectively with customers.
“Increasingly, that [point of interest] goes beyond the online shopping cart or in-store sales terminal to include product pages, social channels, in-store kiosks, connected IOT devices, voice commerce, and more,” the CEO explained.
Boisjoli’s hope is that within six months, the startup will be able to bring commerce to any touchpoint along the customer journey.
Bold Commerce will also look to grow its network of payments, tax, fraud, order fulfillment, and marketing partners this year. The company said the plan is to expand its comprehensive marketplace of plug-ins and pre-built integrations. Currently, Bold Commerce has more than 50 tech partners, including Stripe, Paypal, Vertex, and Klaviyo.
Following the raise, the startup also plans to hire more than 100 new team members in Austin, Winnipeg, and across North America in software engineering, sales, marketing, and partnership roles. The startup opened an office in Austin last year and recently hired Austin-based Odus Wittenburg, formerly of Q2 Holdings and Rackspace, as its chief operating officer (COO).
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