FMCG Data Startup Convert Group Notches €1.2 Million

To bring online shopping visibility to fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), Greece-based Convert Group has notched €1.2 million in seed funding. The startup offers software-as-a-service (SaaS) to let brands know how they are performing throughout eCommerce, according to reports.

“eRetail Audit,” which is the central offering of the upstart, is said to be a digital platform that offers online retail market share information for “sell-out” consumer merchandise in units, value and volume. It teams with different online shopping platforms and stores to offer this information. And, instead of going head to head with marketing insight firms IQVIA and Nielsen, it has inked revenue sharing-based strategic partnerships.

Convert Group Founder and CEO Panayotis Gezerlis said, according to reports, “As strange as it may seem, e-commerce market share [data] for FMCGs in value, volume or units was virtually non-existent across the world.” Gezerlis continued, “Companies like Nielsen, IRI, and IQVIA only had solutions for the traditional retail ecosystem and were not prepared for the meteoric speed FMCG online sales were increasing.”

The investment, for its part, comes from EquiFund-backed Uni.fund. According to reports, the funding marks the inaugural occasion that the company, which is otherwise bootstrapped, has accepted external funding as of starting in 2014 and providing online retail consultancy at first.

In November of last year, the firm rolled out “eRetail Content” and announced its third offering last week, which is a data marketplace for eCommerce.

In separate funding news from September of last year, Akeneo landed $46 million to enhance product information for retailers. Existing investors Partech, Alven, and Salesforce Ventures in addition to Akeneo’s board member Stephan Dietrich, also participated in the round.

The firm will use the new funding to further invest in its sales and marketing efforts in the United States in addition to growing research and development, with the inclusion of product data intelligence and bring on more staff.

The open source software as a service (SaaS) platform of Akeneo manages product information and omnichannel catalogs.