Tech firm’s fundraising to back American ambitions
Software firm Pimberly has raised £6.5m to fund its plans to expand into America and accelerate UK growth.
The funding round is with Mercia, which has deployed its own cash alongside investment from funds it manages, and existing investors.
Manchester-based Pimberly was founded in 2016 and today works with retailers including JD Sports and Monsoon to help them increase sales through automate product data processing.
Pimberly combined SaaS software with cloud-based technology to create what it calls the “world’s most powerful product information management (PIM) platform”.
Mercia has invested £1.4m from its own balance sheet alongside a further £2.9m investment by the Mercia-managed Northern VCTs to support Pimberly’s growth ambitions.
The rest of the £6.5m has come from two other existing investors.
Mercia chief executive Dr Mark Payton
Mark Payton, chief executive of Mercia, said: “Pimberly is a prime example of a regional business with a compelling customer offering that can accelerate its growth when supported with the right funding.
“Our Complete Connected Capital means that we can provide the right capital at the right time for a business such as Pimberly, as it continues to expand and target new markets.”
Mercia first invested in Pimberly in 2018 via its managed Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, and this is the first direct investment in Pimberly from the Group’s own balance sheet.
Following this investment, Mercia holds a 5.6% stake in Pimberly, with the Northern VCTs holding a further 11.7%.
Pimberly is led by founder and chief executive Martin Balaam, who said: “We’re absolutely delighted to have Mercia invest in Pimberly, and it’s great to see that Manchester not only has the tech talent to help nurture businesses like Pimberly, but also the financial funding to support our growth ambitions.
Martin Balaam, Pimberley chief executive
“I am proud of the Pimberly team, customers and investors – we have created a world class product and we’re very excited to be able to now take this to the USA and scale Pimberly to the next phase of growth.”
He added: “Pimberly was created because, as e-commerce continues to grow, so, too, does the need for companies to enrich their product information with more relevant data, images, videos and 3D visuals and present it all to the consumer in a way that improves the overall shopping experience.
“The explosion of online marketplaces, such as Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Alibaba, Walmart and others, means that businesses also need to have efficient ways of getting their products listed on multiple sites, in multiple languages all around the world, instantly.”
