CommerceIQ turns unicorn, raises $115 million led by SoftBank

CommerceIQ, which helps brands sell on ecommerce platforms by offering better data, analytics and marketing, said on March 21 it has raised $115 million at a valuation of a billion dollars led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2.

The deal makes it a so-called 'unicorn', the 13th originating from India so far, continuing the unicorn boom amid talks of a slowdown for technology funding. Existing investors including Insight Partners, Trinity Ventures, Shasta Ventures and Madrona Venture Group also participated in the round.

Run by software executive Guru Hariharan since 2019, CommerceIQ works with companies such as Kelloggs, Johnson and Johnson and Nestle to help them sell on online platforms such as Amazon, Walmart.com and Instacart better. It helps these companies analyse competitors, keep copycats at bay, automate targeted marketing and sales efforts and reconcile purchase orders, among other things.

"Our mission is to empower brands to move from analog to algorithms. Winners in this new era of commerce will be determined by how fast they can reinvent their business from siloed and manual to fully connected and automated. And our customers are winning big, with an average revenue growth of 18%, driven by real-time optimizations that boost share-of-voice (SOV), minimize out-of-stock (OOS), and prevent revenue leakage," said Guru Hariharan, CEO of CommerceIQ.

"We are beyond grateful to our investment partners for their support that will enable us to quickly scale and address the urgent needs of large consumer brands to unlock their full potential. By providing intelligent automation across the entire ecommerce stack, CommerceIQ will become even more critical for brands to grow their market share and profitability."

"As eCommerce penetration continues to surge, competition and technical complexity will make it harder than ever for brands to stand out online," said Priya Saiprasad, Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers. "We believe that CommerceIQ can provide companies with a substantial edge by harnessing the power of algorithms and automation to supercharge their online presence. We are delighted to partner with Guru and the team on their mission to help brands win in eCommerce."