A European online marketing software company raises $33 million

September 16, 2015, 1:37 PM

By Sandra Guy Senior Editor

Emarsys, which counts eBay among its clients,  sets up U.S. headquarters in Indianapolis.

Marketing software company Emarsys, based in Vienna, is expanding in the U.S.  and has received outside funding for the first time in its 15-year history with a $33 million Series A investment from Vector Capital.

“We are focused on growth,” says Sean Brady, Emarsys’ president of the Americas. The company, which sells cloud-based software to create automated digital and mobile marketing campaigns for midmarket retailers and small enterprises, employees 40 in North and South America and expects that number to grow to 200 within the next five years, Brady says. Emarsys will hire in sales, marketing, customer support, product development and professional services development, he says. The company’s U.S. headquarters is in Indianapolis, Ind.

Emarsys counts eBay Inc. as a U.S client and Toys ‘R’ Us Inc., No. 40 in the Internet Retailer 2015 Top 500 Guide, plus Canon, Superdrug and Volvo among its global customers. Brady says Emarsys has 10 to 20 U.S. clients. The software can cost anywhere from $15,000 to $100,000 annually, depending on the size of a merchant’s database, he says.

Emarsys’ software works in conjunction with a merchant’s e-commerce platform or data management system. The software uses machine learning and proprietary algorithms to analyze what online shoppers are doing on a retailer’s website and to send them automated and targeted messages via email, SMS and social media to encourage them to purchase, Brady says. “Organizations are trying to leverage technology to do the bulk of their digital marketing work without adding tens to twenties of new employees. We let the retailers make the decision of where they need to spend time, money and effort to grow their businesses.”

Another customer, U.K.-based surf and outdoor accessories retailer Surfdome, uses Emarsys’ tool to identify and target sales leads, active buyers, defecting customers and first-time purchasers, according to a case study provided by Emarsys. Surfdome’s marketing team creates loyalty campaigns to win back customers they can see exiting the e-commerce site, and create loyalty campaigns for active buyers, according to the case study. The company also run stock clearance campaigns, launch products and back-in-stock promotions and initiate cross-sell, up-sell and post-purchase programs based on information the software provides.

Brady says that Emarsys competes with Bronto Software, Silverpop IBM, Adobe, Salesforce  and Oracle Marketing Cloud.

Bronto, which in April agreed to be acquired by NetSuite Inc., is listed as the email service provider for 37 retailers in the Internet Retailer 2015 Top 500 Guide that had a combined $3.33 billion in web sales in 2014. IBM has 105 web analytics clients with $66.4 billion in yearly web sales; Adobe has 229 web analytics clients with web sales totaling $222 billion; Salesforce has 54 email marketing clients with web sales of $30.69 billion, according to Top500Guide.com data.

A European online marketing software company raises $33 million