Published on the 26/01/2021 | Written by Heather Wright
Large-scale growth plan to capitalise on Covid changes…
Sitecore – and digital experience systems – have received a big tick of approval, gaining what Sitecore claims is the largest ever capital investment in martech: US$1.2 billion in private investment.
The investment comes five years after Swedish private equity investor EQT acquired Sitecore in a deal which valued the company at around $1.1 billion. EQT is reportedly among the investors in the latest funding boost, which will be used to fuel an aggressive large-scale growth plan, including accelerating product development and doubling the company’s go-to-market presence.
“An investment of this magnitude in our industry is unprecedented,” says Steve Tzikakis, who joined the company as Sitecore CEO less than five months ago.
“An investment of this magnitude in our industry is unprecedented.”
While it’s hard to verify Sitecore’s claims of the investment being the largest ever in martech given not all companies reveal details of private investments, it is certainly, as Sitecore says ‘massive’.
“As companies and consumers search for more seamless ways to communicate, co-ordinate and collaborate during this momentous period, Sitecore’s investment will supercharge product innovation in order to better enable deeper and more engaging experiences across the entire customer journey,” Tzikakis says.
The company has enjoyed record revenues for the past three quarters as it basks in the current digital boon – a boon further accelerated by the Covid pandemic forcing businesses to increase their focus on digital and the digital experience.
In a May 2020 report, consulting firm McKinsey said in just eight weeks the industry had leaped forward five years in consumer and business digital adoption, due to the shift in demand for digital experience solutions caused by the pandemic.
Sitecore has been quick to capitalise, with major releases of its flagship products, Sitecore Experience Platform and Experience Commerce in August, hard on the heels of the launch of its Content Hub 3.4.
While light on specifics, the company says the new funding will enable it to accelerate the pace of product innovation, more than double its go-to-market presence, increase awareness with a global brand campaign and strengthen its geographic footprint in existing markets while also entering new markets. The company has a presence in both Sydney and Melbourne, but no New Zealand base as yet.
“Our new investment will enable us to introduce cutting-edge content solutions faster, like Sitecore Experience Edge,” Sitecore says. The company announced the Experience Edge SaaS platform to deliver ‘headless’ content at scale to any interface in December 2020.
The addition of ‘hundreds’ of employees around the world is also part of the company’s growth plan.
The investment caps a run of big moves by content management system and digital experience platform vendors, who have been busy announcing strategic acquisitions and expansions over the past few years. Salesforce has spent more than US$16 billion on acquisitions in the past year, with Acquia also hot to trot on the acquisitions trail in the past few years. Adobe, meanwhile snapped up Marketo in 2018 for $4.75 billion.
Sitecore’s customer base includes more than a third of Fortune 100 companies and nearly half of the S&P global 100, including American Express, Volvo Cars, L’Oreal, Kimberly-Clark and ASOS
The $1.2 billion investment comes as the company celebrates its 20th anniversary.
