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Frog Capital, the growth capital investor in cleantech and ICT companies, has led a £5 million second round financing in eCommera, a UK-based provider of e-commerce services to the retail industry. Existing shareholder, West Coast Capital, supported the round.
Founded in 2007 by Michael Ross, the online entrepreneur and founder of successful fashion retailer Figleaves.com and ex-BT marketing director, Andrew McGregor, eCommera currently helps over 20 large retailers, including Asda and House of Fraser, to analyse and run profitable online retail operations. The new funding will be used to expand the company’s services and geographical reach.
eCommera’s CoreTrader service is an analytical dashboard that helps retailers to understand the drivers of profit and growth in the highly competitive world of online commerce. The company’s CoreCommerce Platform is an e-commerce trading platform delivered over the internet, to enable retailers to act on this information and build profitable online operations. Alongside the core technology platforms, eCommera provides associated online retail consulting services.
Commenting on the investment, Frog Capital’s Managing Partner, Mike Reid, says: “eCommera has found a highly attractive sweet-spot. E-commerce is now critical to retailers, and the eCommera service directly meets their needs. The front line ‘been there, done it’ experience of the eCommera team is unsurpassed in Europe. With several deal wins this year already, and more to come, this business has great momentum.”
Andrew McGregor, CEO and co-founder of eCommera, added: “In the early days of web adoption, retailers needed just to establish an online presence to succeed. As the market matures and internet shoppers become spoilt for choice, retailers need to understand how the dynamics of online retail differ in order to compete effectively and ensure that online operations are profitable and not just pretty web-based shop windows. Even established and successful retailers are struggling to make that transition and are coming under increasing pressure.”
This is Frog Capital’s first investment in the ICT sector following the arrival last year of Managing Partner, Mike Reid, from 3i’s Growth Capital team. The investment reflects the firm’s strategy in the sector of supporting companies that offer service or product to data-intensive businesses seeking to harness the cost and time efficiencies of web-based marketing.
The investors in the transaction were advised by Osborne Clarke (legal). eCommera was advised by GP Bullhound (corporate finance) and McGrigors (legal).
For further information, please contact:
Sally Brown or Chantal Ligertwood, PR for Frog Capital
07917 091 782 sally@ligertwood.net / 07976 229 210 chantal@ligertwood.net