German API Startup Raises $145M For Global Expansion, B2B Growth

German eCommerce software company commercetools has raised $145 million in a funding round led by Insight Partners, at a valuation of $300 million.

TechCrunch is reporting that the company is being spun out by parent company REWE, which acquired it in 2015.

Both Richard Wells and Matt Gatto of Insight Partners are joining the commercetools board with the investment.

“With a strong track record of investing in retail software leaders, we are excited to have the opportunity to invest in commercetools and help them scale up internationally,” Wells said in a statement. “In our opinion commercetools represents the next wave of enterprise commerce software and has the potential to unlock powerful innovation and growth within the e-commerce sector.”

The company was originally acquired to help REWE with its own internal eCommerce needs, but it has always worked with outside companies, and it’s been growing at a rate of 110 percent a year, according to CEO and Co-Founder Dirk Hoerig.

The software company works with some of the biggest names in the business, including Audi, Bang & Olufsen, Carhartt, Yamaha, as well as others. It generally handles companies that make revenue over $100 million a year.

The decision was made to spin out the company and capitalize on its growth. REWE is going to remain a large shareholder in the company.

Shopify is another company that provides a similar service to businesses, but commercetools said that it doesn’t consider it a competitor because Shopify deals with smaller operations. Shopify is also backed by Insight Partners.

“We have no plan to compete against Shopify,” Hoerig said, adding that the company won’t delve into logistics either.

The eCommerce field that commercetools works in is fairly crowded, with companies like Oracle, IBM and SAP being regular competitors. The market, Hoerig said, is also very fragmented.

“Even SAP has only something like a 2 percent share,” he said.