Funding Led by InfraVia Growth Targets $47.5+ Billion Organic Search Market with a 20% CAGR
NEW YORK and PARIS, Sept. 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Botify, the leading enterprise software company for performance-driven organic search, today announced that it has closed $55 million USD in Series C funding led by InfraVia Growth, with participation from Bpifrance through its Large Venture fund, as well as existing investors Eurazeo and Ventech. Nicolas Herschtel from InfraVia and Antoine Izsak from Bpifrance Large Venture will join Botify's Board of Directors.
This investment round will help Botify scale its solution to meet increased market demand and reflects the strategic role of organic search for long-term, profitable growth. In 2020, businesses spent $47.5 billion on SEO related products and services. The SEO market is projected to grow at a 20% CAGR by 2025.
"The investment comes on the heels of a year during which online activity accelerated. The pandemic forced brands across all industries to quickly reassess their digital marketing investments or speed up their digital transformations. With the ability to drive sustainable traffic and revenue - and deliver a high ROI, organic search marketing has become a core strategy helping enterprise brands navigate this new world," said Adrien Menard, Co-Founder and CEO of Botify. "The additional funding will assure we can fuel our product innovation, notably in organic search automation, grow our global presence, specifically in APAC, and support our partner ecosystem development."
Since its founding in 2012, Botify has been at the forefront of enterprise SEO, empowering leading companies such as Expedia, L'Oréal, The New York Times, Groupon, Marriott, Conde Nast, Crate & Barrel, Fnac Darty, Vestiaire Collective, and Farfetch, with the most robust set of analytics to understand and improve the discoverability of their websites by search engines, in turn driving traffic and conversions from intent-based consumers. Today, Botify not only delivers insights across the entire search funnel, but also AI-powered recommendations and the ability to automate time- and resource-intensive SEO implementations that drive real business outcomes.
Nicolas Herschtel, Partner at InfraVia, will join Botify's Board of Directors. He commented, "We are very excited to contribute to Botify's high growth and innovation and help them deliver against an ambitious product roadmap. We have been extremely impressed with the founders' vision for the future of search and we are confident that with their unique data model and focus on automation, Botify is well positioned to build upon the market momentum and continue to transform the SEO market."
After getting its start in Europe, Botify entered the US market in 2016 which now accounts for more than 60% of the company's revenue. Building upon the success, Botify is establishing and growing operations in Asia Pacific.
"We have been impressed by Botify's rapid growth and the fact that they are enabling some of the largest and most sophisticated websites in the world to drive measurable revenue growth through organic search. The quality and scalability of the Botify platform sets it apart as a leader within the search landscape. Bpifrance prides itself to back such an innovative company in a fast growing and dynamic market," said Antoine Izsak, Investment Director at Bpifrance Large Venture, who also joins Botify's Board of Directors.
Chloe Giard, Investment Director at Eurazeo, also commented, "It's been incredible to watch Botify's evolution since our first investment in 2016. Not only have they been smart about their product innovation, leveraging the power of AI and machine learning to create even more value and efficiency for their customers, but the strategic partnerships they've forged with the likes of Google Cloud and Salesforce Commerce Cloud are indicative of how integral search has become in today's digital strategies. We're thrilled to continue supporting Botify on its journey to redefine search marketing."
"As an early believer and Series A investor, Ventech has had the chance to support the Botify team in its development in the US from day one," remarked Ventech General Partner Claire Houry. "With organic search marketing stepping into the driver's seat in the race between enterprise brands for category domination, the founders' vision for the future of search combined with analytic superiority and automation affirm our confidence in Botify's ability to be THE global leader in search marketing."
About Botify
Botify is an enterprise software company that helps brands turn organic search into an efficient, measurable, and sustainable channel for both traffic and revenue growth. Powered by a unique unified data model, prescriptive insights, and automated processes, Botify delivers an end-to-end SEO management solution that enables customers to unlock the true growth potential of their website.
Botify is used by 500+ leading global companies across industries including e-commerce, travel, media & publishing, classifieds, and more, including Expedia, Macy's Farfetch, Marriott, L'Oréal, Crate & Barrel, Conde Nast, Groupon, Github, Carvana, FNAC Darty, and The New York Times. Botify also partners with leading technology and services companies such as Salesforce Commerce Cloud, WordPress VIP, Google Cloud, Jellyfish, Chameleon Collective, Foresight Digital, Contentsquare, and iPullRank.
Botify is a fast-growing, VC-backed, SaaS company with $82M in funding and offices in New York, Seattle, Paris, London, and Singapore.
About InfraVia
InfraVia is a leading independent private equity firm, specialized in infrastructure and technology investments. InfraVia supports entrepreneurs and industrial players in their growth and digital strategy, accelerating their transformation in sizeable platforms. Since 2008, InfraVia has raised EUR 5 billion of capital and invested in 30+ companies across 12 European countries. In 2020, InfraVia launched a new investment strategy dedicated to European B2B high-growth tech companies. The team, composed of 8 experienced professionals, plans to make single investments of €10 million to €50 million to help them bridge the funding gap between Venture Capital and Buy-Out stages. www.infraviacapital.com
About Bpifrance
Bpifrance is the French national investment bank. It finances businesses – at every stage of their development – through loans, guarantees, equity investments and export insurances. Bpifrance also provides extra financial services (training, consultancy) to help entrepreneurs meet their challenges (innovation, export…). For more information, please visit: www.bpifrance.fr and presse.bpifrance.fr - Follow us on Twitter: @Bpifrance - @BpifrancePresse
About Ventech
Ventech is a Global, Early Stage VC firm based out of Paris, Munich, Helsinki, Berlin, Hong Kong and Shanghai with over €900m raised to fuel globally ambitious entrepreneurs and their visions of the future digital economy.
Since founding in 1998, Ventech has made 200+ investments (Believe, Botify, Mindler, Ogury, Picanova, Speexx, Veo & Vestiaire Collective) and 80+ exits (Webedia, Curse, StickyADS.tv and Withings).
About Eurazeo
Eurazeo is a leading global investment group, with a diversified portfolio of €25.6 billion in Assets Under Management, including €17.8 billion from third parties, invested in over 450 companies. With its considerable private equity, real estate and private debt expertise, Eurazeo accompanies companies of all sizes, supporting their development through the commitment of its nearly 300 professionals and by offering deep sector expertise, a gateway to global markets, and a responsible and stable foothold for transformational growth. Its solid institutional and family shareholder base, robust financial structure free of structural debt, and flexible investment horizon enable Eurazeo to support its companies over the long term.
Eurazeo has offices in Paris, New York, São Paulo, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, London, Luxembourg, Frankfurt, Berlin and Madrid.
Eurazeo is listed on Euronext Paris.