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The London-based SaaS pricing optimisation platform helps retailers make smarter pricing decisions
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BlackCurve will use the investment to accelerate its commercial development, doubling its team, and strengthening its product offering
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Nauta Capital, a pan-European VC focused on capital-efficient software companies, leads the round.
We are proud to announced the closing of a £1.5 million funding round, led by Pan-European VC Nauta Capital.
Founded in 2016, we are a pricing optimisation platform helps retailers manage and optimise the price of every item they sell to achieve their business goals. Our platform, powered by Artificial Intelligence, ingests data sources ranging from sales history and website page performance, right through to competitor pricing and stock levels, enabling every retailer to create smart pricing rules for their specific business.
We serve mid to large multichannel retailers across industries such as sporting equipment, DIY, garden & outdoor, kitchen & home goods, consumer electronics & photography, pet supplies, stationery, automotive parts, toys & games, beauty & healthcare.
Currently, our pricing platform optimises the prices of over 1 million products and executes over 15 million price changes per month. This allows retailers to achieve profit margin growth and save both time and resources.
Philip Huthwaite, Founder and CEO of BlackCurve, had this to say about the investment:
“We’re delighted to announce that Nauta has invested into BlackCurve. Their track record speaks for itself, and their advice and support to date has been excellent. We look forward to partnering together on this exciting chapter of our journey. With our existing investor, Mercia, following on too, it is a further proof point of the potential for us to shake up the price optimisation software market and help more retailers optimise their prices.”
Leading the investment, Carles Ferrer, Nauta Capital’s London-based General Partner will be joining BlackCurve’s board and will support the company’s growth plans. Commenting on the investment, Carles said:
“For Nauta, being able to partner with BlackCurve and their highly knowledgeable founding team was an opportunity we could not pass. While exploring different pricing strategies is a key concept in most businesses, the process in which this is achieved has largely remained manual and inefficient, hardly keeping up with the changing pace of technology, but BlackCurve’s innovative solution changes this. There is also a great synergy between our existing portfolio and BlackCurve, and we look forward to working with Philip and the rest of the team in scaling BlackCurve globally.”
The round is supported by Mercia Fund Managers, a United Kingdom-based technology investment firm. Chris Kilroy, Investment Manager at Mercia Fund Managers, said the following about the investment round:
“BlackCurve has continued to make excellent progress since we led the company’s seed round in February 2018. Philip and Charles have done a fantastic job assembling a world-class team in 2018 and we’re looking forward to working with and supporting the company alongside Nauta Capital throughout 2019 and beyond.”
About BlackCurve
BlackCurve is a Pricing Optimisation Platform, that blends the flexibility of a rules-based engine with the power of artificial intelligence. The platform helps retailers manage and optimise the price of every item they sell to achieve their business goals. BlackCurve is headquartered in London, and has raised approximately £2 million of external investment to date. www.blackcurve.com.
About Nauta Capital
Nauta Capital is a pan-European Venture Capital firm investing in early-stage technology companies, with offices in London, Barcelona and Munich. Nauta’s main areas of investment interests include B2B software propositions, disruptive digital media companies, and enabling technologies for mobile and the Internet. Nauta has $300+ million under management and invests in Western Europe. Nauta has led investments in 30+ companies including Brandwatch, CloudIQ, Nextail, Mercaux, Marfeel, MishiPay, ForceManager, Scytl, Getapp, BeMyEye, Geoblink, Smarp, Aba English, Fizzback, Privalia and Social Point. www.nautacapital.com.
About Mercia Fund Managers
Mercia Fund Managers provide both equity and debt finance to small businesses based in the UK regions. The Group has more than 400 businesses in its portfolio, a strong record including 11 IPOs and manages circa £400.0million of third-party funds, including Mercia EIS Funds. www.merciatech.co.uk.