edrone, a Polish developer and marketer of Marketing Automation and CRM systems designed for e-commerce announced another round of funding. VC funds including INventures, Mueller Medien, Atmos, and PortfoLion decided to back edrone with a total of PLN 20 million ($5M). INventures led the funding round. The acquisition of new capital was possible due to edrone’s continuous growth, as the company reached almost $7M ARR and is currently valued at PLN 120 million ($30M).
The investment amounted to PLN 20 million, including the new capital of more than PLN 10 million from INventures and the conversion of debt capital into shares by the other funds. New funds will be used mostly to expand the Brazil branch and hire new employees, at least doubling the company’s headcount in Brazil.
In 2023, we doubled our Brazilian revenue. The newly acquired funds will allow us to expand our operations in Brazil, where we already managed to double revenues in 2023. We will also focus on improving business processes in Poland, and further investments in the product will let us even better utilize marketing automation supported by Artificial Intelligence – says Michał Blak, Co-Founder and CEO of edrone.
New investors
New among the investors is the round’s lead investor, INventures – a Poznań-based independent investment firm focusing on long-term business support. INventures specializes in strategic consulting and helping companies improve their core business areas. edrone is the fund’s ninth investment.
The product, its business metrics, and the conception for international growth have won our praise. What sets edrone apart and ensures its potential to grow is effective management. At edrone, the delegation of responsibility to key people in the company works perfectly. They recruit exceptional talent and utilize essential competencies accordingly – emphasizes Katarzyna Dąbrowska, CEO of INventures.
Joining the new round by the existing investors confirms their commitment and contentment with both the company’s achievements and consistent implementation of the strategy developed in 2020. After the investment, the founders Michal Blak and Rahim Blak still retain control of the company, owning 60% of the shares and maintaining a vital role in the decision-making process.
Investing in people
The acquired funds will be used to expand the team, which already has more than 150 employees in Krakow and Brazil – edrone aims to hire additional 70 people this year. Committed to the development of its organizational culture, the company is intensively growing the People and Culture department.
My motivation is to create an organizational culture at a level that inspires the best SaaS companies in Europe and Latin America. We believe in managing employees with context and values, which allows team members to take initiative and respond to market needs faster – adds Michał Blak.
Investing in the product
The system developed by edrone is used by nearly 2000 online stores, mainly in Poland and Brazil. The investment includes further work on the product and scaling up the team dedicated to its development.
Since 2020, we have been steadily developing our R&D department, intending to build a sustainable technological advantage. In the past year, we have introduced new features based on Generative AI into the system, which effectively support our customers. In the current year, we intend to continue development in this particular area – says Maciej Mendrela, CTO.
A management board full of experts
The Management Board consists of Michał Blak, the company’s Co-Founder and CEO, and Maciej Serafin, COO, who will be supported by the Supervisory Board:
Katarzyna Dąbrowska – president of INventures and investment advisor. During her career, she managed regional investment funds with assets value exceeding PLN 3 billion, as well as won the Golden Portfolio and Fund of the Year awards. She will support edrone in investment strategy and development.
Tibor Győrbiró – partner at PortfoLion since 2018. The first investor in edrone. He manages investments in later-stage companies.
Michael Amtmann, Head of Mueller Medien New Business and M&A. The Mueller Medien family group of companies is a leading service provider for SMBs in the DACH region. Among others, Michael led the investment in Booksy and specializes in SaaS and b2b marketplaces. He supports the company in the area of business development and, in the future, M&A.
Sami Moughrabie – Founder and Managing Partner of ATMOS Ventures, a deep tech VC. He specializes in the fields of AI, Quantum Technologies and Sustainability and was named one of the Top Global 100 University of Chicago Alumni in Tech. At edrone, he advises on new technologies and fundamental research.Steen W. Sorensen – owner of VarsoGroup. He gained experience as an investment banker and assumed the CFO leadership for the B2B division at Liberty Global in 2003. Experienced in managing multi-billion dollar revenues and investments, Mr Sorensen helped edrone during all investment rounds.
Thirteen angel investors have also invested in edrone, acting under the umbrella of Robert Ditrych, a serial investor, M&A advisor, and e-commerce entrepreneur. This included Maciej Zawadzinski, founder of PiwikPRO and managing partner at Next New Ventures, and WEG Partners.
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