In the competitive world of business, partnerships and large investments are often game-changers for scaling up operations and expanding market reach. This week, something remarkable came to my attention that serves as a true inspiration for entrepreneurs across industries. French tech company Brevo, a customer engagement platform, has officially joined the exclusive club of unicorns by securing a massive €500 million in funding. To top it all off, global powerhouses eBay, H&M, and Louis Vuitton have partnered with Brevo, demonstrating the trust and potential these distinguished brands see in its offerings.
Let’s walk through this exciting development, its implications, and what lessons startups and business owners can draw from it.
The €500 Million Surge: Brevo’s Big Moment
Founded in 2012, Brevo initially entered the business world under the name Sendinblue, offering simple email marketing services tailored to small businesses. Over the years, the company expanded into serving mid-market enterprises, rebranded as Brevo, and began providing a more comprehensive suite of customer relationship management and marketing tools. This funding round propels the company into a whole new league.
The €500 million investment was backed by prominent new players, including General Atlantic and Oakley Capital, while existing supporters like Bpifrance and Bridgepoint reinvested further. Interestingly, early shareholder Partech chose this as a point for a full exit, freeing Brevo to realign its vision and focus on significant next steps.
With its valuation now crossing the €1 billion threshold, Brevo sets its sights high, aiming for €1 billion in annual recurring revenue by 2030. Its ambitions also extend towards dominating the U.S. market, a region expected to see over €100 million in investments from Brevo in the coming years.
Lessons from the Partnerships: What Makes Brevo a Magnet for Global Brands?
It’s no small feat to attract partners like eBay, H&M, and Louis Vuitton. For smaller businesses or startups, such collaborations may seem unattainable, but Brevo’s approach shows us what can be achieved through focus, execution, and understanding your market.
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Strong Value Proposition
Brevo has built an all-in-one platform offering email marketing, CRM solutions, SMS integration, WhatsApp campaigns, and chat features, a combination that addresses a diverse set of business needs. By catering to both small enterprises and global corporations, the company remains versatile and scalable. -
Laser Focus on Customer Experience
At the heart of Brevo’s platform is a clear priority: excellent customer engagement. This focus attracts brands that want to deliver personalized customer experiences, such as retail giants H&M and Louis Vuitton, whose DNA depends on maintaining strong connections with diverse audiences. -
Scalability and AI Investments
With €50 million allocated towards AI investments and a vast user base of over 600,000 organizations, Brevo’s commitment to staying ahead in tech has resonated with notable brands. Businesses must embrace technology not only to solve today’s problems but to future-proof their models. -
Track Record of Growth
Brevo’s annual revenue highlights solid financial performance. Entrepreneurs can see the importance of aligning product improvements with business growth, as they work to gain credibility with potential partners and investors.
How Brevo Plans to Use Its Funding
Let’s take a closer look at where the money is going:
- Global Expansion: While Brevo currently dominates markets across Europe, North America presents an enormous opportunity. The U.S. already accounts for more than 15% of its revenue, and the company aims to grow this significantly.
- AI and Tech: A commitment of €50 million over five years towards AI advancements solidifies their place at the forefront of customer interaction innovation.
- Acquisitions: With 11 acquisitions under its belt so far, Brevo is accelerating its strategy to scale through buying competitors and complementary solutions.
Practical Takeaway: Build, Evolve, and Partner
For startups and founders, this story provides a unique opportunity to rethink your own strategies. Here’s a short guide:
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Start Simple and Scale Smartly
Like Brevo once focused squarely on email marketing, identify a pain point you can solve for a specific audience. As demand grows, expand your offering. -
Show, Don’t Just Tell
Demonstrate your value with measurable results. Brevo hit milestones with revenue figures and client retention before embarking on its large-scale funding partnerships. -
Invest in Relationships
Partnerships can open doors to new markets. Understand your potential partner's needs and show how your business solves genuine challenges they face. -
Experiment with Acquisition
Not every company has the resources for early M&A activity, but seeking strategic acquisitions at scale can solidify your market position when the time is right.
Common Mistakes That Could Derail Similar Ambitions
There are pitfalls to avoid if you’re inspired by Brevo’s story:
- Ignoring Focus: Attempting to do too many things at once dilutes your value.
- Neglecting the Customer: Failing to stay close to your customers’ evolving needs can turn even the best product irrelevant.
- Undervaluing Partnerships: Big names can elevate your credibility, provided you create clear value for them. Understand their goals before approaching them.
Wrapping Up: Inspiration for Entrepreneurs
Brevo’s journey is an excellent example of how smaller players in the tech sector can grow into European giants with the right strategy, focus, and investment. From eBay to Louis Vuitton, brands that define their fields recognized Brevo’s ability to deliver.
This success isn’t reserved for unicorns or tech startups alone. Businesses across sectors can take a page from Brevo by emphasizing growth, staying customer-focused, leveraging cutting-edge solutions, and remaining bullish about future goals.
If there’s one thing to learn from Brevo, it’s that clear vision paired with hard results is an unbeatable combination. Take a good look at your business model, do you know your strengths and weaknesses well enough to offer value even to the most demanding partners? Many startups fail not due to a lack of funds, but due to a lack of focus.
Are you prepared to bet on your business the way Brevo did? The answer to this question will guide you to your next steps.
FAQ
1. What funding milestone did Brevo recently achieve?
Brevo reached unicorn status by securing €500 million in funding. This funding round was supported by General Atlantic and Oakley Capital as new investors and aimed to propel Brevo’s global expansion and AI developments. Learn more about Brevo’s funding milestone
2. Who are Brevo’s latest investors?
General Atlantic and Oakley Capital joined Brevo as new investors. Existing investors like Bpifrance and Bridgepoint also reinvested. Partech, an early shareholder, exited entirely during this funding round. Explore the details of Brevo’s investors
3. How will Brevo use the €500 million funding?
Brevo plans to allocate the funding towards AI advancements (€50 million), U.S. market expansion (investing over €100 million), and accelerating growth through acquisitions. Discover Brevo’s funding strategy
4. Which major brands have partnered with Brevo?
Global companies like eBay, H&M, and Louis Vuitton have collaborated with Brevo, trusting their CRM and customer engagement solutions. Find out more about Brevo’s global partnerships
5. What products does Brevo offer?
Brevo provides an all-in-one customer engagement platform that includes email marketing, CRM solutions, SMS integration, WhatsApp campaigns, and chat features. Learn more about Brevo’s product offerings
6. What is Brevo’s global expansion strategy?
Brevo is focusing on expanding its presence in North America, planning significant investments in the U.S. market to boost its existing 15% revenue share from that region. Discover Brevo’s expansion plans
7. How is Brevo investing in AI?
Brevo has committed €50 million over five years towards AI development, positioning itself as a leader in customer engagement innovation. Learn more about Brevo’s AI advancements
8. What lessons can startups learn from Brevo’s success?
Startups can learn the importance of a strong value proposition, strategic partnerships, scalability, and tech innovation, as demonstrated by Brevo’s approach to growth. Explore lessons from Brevo’s journey
9. What is Brevo’s revenue target for 2030?
Brevo aims to reach €1 billion in annual recurring revenue by 2030 as part of its ambitious long-term goals. Discover Brevo’s revenue goals
10. How does Brevo plan to strengthen its market position?
With 11 acquisitions to date, Brevo is accelerating its growth through strategic acquisitions of competitors and complementary solutions to consolidate its market position. Learn about Brevo’s market growth strategy
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
Violetta Bonenkamp's expertise in CAD sector, IP protection and blockchain
Violetta Bonenkamp is recognized as a multidisciplinary expert with significant achievements in the CAD sector, intellectual property (IP) protection, and blockchain technology.
CAD Sector:
- Violetta is the CEO and co-founder of CADChain, a deep tech startup focused on developing IP management software specifically for CAD (Computer-Aided Design) data. CADChain addresses the lack of industry standards for CAD data protection and sharing, using innovative technology to secure and manage design data.
- She has led the company since its inception in 2018, overseeing R&D, PR, and business development, and driving the creation of products for platforms such as Autodesk Inventor, Blender, and SolidWorks.
- Her leadership has been instrumental in scaling CADChain from a small team to a significant player in the deeptech space, with a diverse, international team.
IP Protection:
- Violetta has built deep expertise in intellectual property, combining academic training with practical startup experience. She has taken specialized courses in IP from institutions like WIPO and the EU IPO.
- She is known for sharing actionable strategies for startup IP protection, leveraging both legal and technological approaches, and has published guides and content on this topic for the entrepreneurial community.
- Her work at CADChain directly addresses the need for robust IP protection in the engineering and design industries, integrating cybersecurity and compliance measures to safeguard digital assets.
Blockchain:
- Violetta’s entry into the blockchain sector began with the founding of CADChain, which uses blockchain as a core technology for securing and managing CAD data.
- She holds several certifications in blockchain and has participated in major hackathons and policy forums, such as the OECD Global Blockchain Policy Forum.
- Her expertise extends to applying blockchain for IP management, ensuring data integrity, traceability, and secure sharing in the CAD industry.
Violetta is a true multiple specialist who has built expertise in Linguistics, Education, Business Management, Blockchain, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Game Design, AI, SEO, Digital Marketing, cyber security and zero code automations. Her extensive educational journey includes a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Education, an Advanced Master in Linguistics from Belgium (2006-2007), an MBA from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (2006-2008), and an Erasmus Mundus joint program European Master of Higher Education from universities in Norway, Finland, and Portugal (2009).
She is the founder of Fe/male Switch, a startup game that encourages women to enter STEM fields, and also leads CADChain, and multiple other projects like the Directory of 1,000 Startup Cities with a proprietary MeanCEO Index that ranks cities for female entrepreneurs. Violetta created the "gamepreneurship" methodology, which forms the scientific basis of her startup game. She also builds a lot of SEO tools for startups. Her achievements include being named one of the top 100 women in Europe by EU Startups in 2022 and being nominated for Impact Person of the year at the Dutch Blockchain Week. She is an author with Sifted and a speaker at different Universities. Recently she published a book on Startup Idea Validation the right way: from zero to first customers and beyond, launched a Directory of 1,500+ websites for startups to list themselves in order to gain traction and build backlinks and is building MELA AI to help local restaurants in Malta get more visibility online.
For the past several years Violetta has been living between the Netherlands and Malta, while also regularly traveling to different destinations around the globe, usually due to her entrepreneurial activities. This has led her to start writing about different locations and amenities from the POV of an entrepreneur. Here’s her recent article about the best hotels in Italy to work from.
About the Publication
Fe/male Switch is an innovative startup platform designed to empower women entrepreneurs through an immersive, game-like experience. Founded in 2020 during the pandemic "without any funding and without any code," this non-profit initiative has evolved into a comprehensive educational tool for aspiring female entrepreneurs.The platform was co-founded by Violetta Shishkina-Bonenkamp, who serves as CEO and one of the lead authors of the Startup News branch.
Mission and Purpose
Fe/male Switch Foundation was created to address the gender gap in the tech and entrepreneurship space. The platform aims to skill-up future female tech leaders and empower them to create resilient and innovative tech startups through what they call "gamepreneurship". By putting players in a virtual startup village where they must survive and thrive, the startup game allows women to test their entrepreneurial abilities without financial risk.
Key Features
The platform offers a unique blend of news, resources,learning, networking, and practical application within a supportive, female-focused environment:
- Skill Lab: Micro-modules covering essential startup skills
- Virtual Startup Building: Create or join startups and tackle real-world challenges
- AI Co-founder (PlayPal): Guides users through the startup process
- SANDBOX: A testing environment for idea validation before launch
- Wellness Integration: Virtual activities to balance work and self-care
- Marketplace: Buy or sell expert sessions and tutorials
Impact and Growth
Since its inception, Fe/male Switch has shown impressive growth:
- 5,000+ female entrepreneurs in the community
- 100+ startup tools built
- 5,000+ pieces of articles and news written
- 1,000 unique business ideas for women created
Partnerships
Fe/male Switch has formed strategic partnerships to enhance its offerings. In January 2022, it teamed up with global website builder Tilda to provide free access to website building tools and mentorship services for Fe/male Switch participants.
Recognition
Fe/male Switch has received media attention for its innovative approach to closing the gender gap in tech entrepreneurship. The platform has been featured in various publications highlighting its unique "play to learn and earn" model.