Home » Startup from Prato raises 16 million from top venture capitalists: “150 people looked for us, but no Italians”

Startup from Prato raises 16 million from top venture capitalists: “150 people looked for us, but no Italians”

by admin

A couple of weeks ago Filippo Conforti closed a $ 16 million investment round from his home desk in Prato, but that’s not the most interesting part of the Commerce Layer story. The round was led by Coatue Management, the fifth largest investment fund in the world by number of unicorns (companies with a billion vote) in its portfolio. “I talked to about 150 American and British funds, and in the end I chose Coatue not because of the money, because I could have raised several more if I had agreed to sell more shares, but because they were the most convinced of the potential of our product. “.

Commerce Layer, founded in 2017 by Conforti together with Massimo Scardellato, both escaped from Gucci, has developed a headless e-commerce, that is a platform to manage everything behind an e-commerce site, except the interface with which the user interacts. It is a technology born about a decade ago, within a trend that began in the 1910s. “It is an approach for modern developers – explains Conforti – It allows you to completely modify or redo an e-commerce site using the latest technologies without worrying about the store”.

He will now also sit on the Commerce Layer board of directors Caryn Marooney, former Facebook vice president for communication. “So far we have only developed, now we have to promote what we have created” explains Conforti’s choice. Which actually lies a bit: the company now has about thirty customers including Coca Cola Embonor, a Coca-Cola licensee that is testing direct sales to consumers in Chile and Bolivia, and one of the best-known multinationals in the food sector. , which is doing the same thing with ice cream in the Netherlands. “Our technology allows you to sell from any device connected online and through any interface” explains Conforti, who a year ago closed a first $ 6 million investment led by Benchmark Capital and participated by Mango Capital, DAXN, PrimeSet, SV Angel , and NVInvestments. Previously, “only” 800 thousand euros in two installments from friends and acquaintances: “I didn’t even think about it, then one day a friend asked me if he could invest and others followed suit”.

See also  Goodbye to tax records with this application to the Revenue Agency to be presented immediately

We are in 2016: Filippo has recently left Gucci to work as a freelance and in his spare time to develop an innovative solution for e-commerce. She took out a mortgage and started starting a family. When Massimo leaves Gucci too, the two decide to found the company and work with their heads down for a couple of years. The turning point comes in 2020, after Conforti refused a purchase proposal from a customer, another from a company intending to enter the sector, and a third from a rival. When asked “why?” Conforti, who is now 44, replies with obvious embarrassment: “Because I want to IPO.” He probably thinks that having the ambition to list your company on the stock exchange might seem like braggart in our part.

“In 2020 I participated in a sector event organized by Netlify in New York – recalls Conforti – I met the founders and they talked about us to their investors, Mango Capital, and from there we started talks with about twenty VCs, between which Benchmark “. At that point, several founders of Italian startups contact Filippo for information and advice. Even IAG, the association of Italian business angels, shows up, but for them now the company is perhaps too big. One would expect the Commerce Layer to have had who knows what figures, and instead at the time the customers can be counted on the fingers of one hand, even if they are interesting names (Richard Ginori, Chilly’s, Au Depart …), and the turnover is of about 200 thousand euros. Today, however, we are on the seven figures, six times as much in the previous year: “It’s bad to say it, but the pandemic was lucky for us, because in one year e-commerce has grown as for ten”.

See also  Lastminute.com accused of Swiss fraud. History of the Italian founder

Today Commerce Layer has its head in America and its heart in Italy, a successful model already followed by others, such as the founders of AdEspresso, acquired by Hootsuite. Marketing and sales in the USA, development in Italy and Europe, because “here there is less competition to grab the best developers”. Maybe the founders will leave Italy, or maybe not: “Bar and event networking at the moment is all online and I’m meeting all the people I wanted – explains Conforti – Before the pandemic we had planned to move, but at the moment it is no longer necessary, also because our market is global and we do not need to be physically present in the United States “.

Commerce Layer is not a startup that made it, quite the opposite. Despite the 22 million dollars raised in the United States, despite the name of the investors and the goodness of the technology used, the road is still long, even if the valuation of the company is interesting (Dealroom has updated its estimate to 87 million. euros after the last investment, but those who know the market argue that it could be several more). Let’s say that on paper it has all the necessary characteristics to become the next unicorn … American, technically, given that the Italian company is now owned by the American newco. Unlike Depop, the second Italian unicorn, which despite being based in England had received initial investments from Italian VCs, Commerce Layer never even spoke to local investors. “I did not go knocking on anyone, I always thought of developing a reference product for the global market and that any investors would come on their own, as it later happened. I have perhaps sent a few emails to Italian institutional funds, but nothing more. . It makes me smile that whoever was around the corner didn’t notice us, but it did, “Conforti said.

See also  HMD conference will be held next week to preview the new Nokia tablet

How is it possible that no Italian investor has noticed Commerce Layer? Gianluca Dettori, president of VC Hub Italia, the trade association, does not hide: “None of those I spoke to had received a business plan or had intercepted it during the scouting phase. letting these startups escape is one of the themes of the ecosystem. On the other hand, venture capital in Italy is not that big: more investors and more funds are needed “.

.

You may also like

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Accept Read More

Privacy & Cookies Policy