German-based startup xentral has successfully raised a substantial $75 million in a Series B funding round led by investors Tiger Global and Meritech. The latest funding comes after their previous $20 million Series A round, as the company proceeds to make a significant impact on the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) market for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Traditionally, larger companies have dominantly utilized ERPs, but there has been a surge in data generation from SMBs, mainly online-based businesses. As a result, these smaller companies have started embracing ERP systems, opening new avenues for startups like xentral. Founded and led by the husband and wife duo, Benedikt and Claudia Sauter, xentral was built to provide comprehensive ERP solutions tailored to online SMBs. The platform connects seamlessly with various eCommerce giants like Shopify, Amazon, WooCommerce, and Magento, as well as CRM solutions such as Pipedrive. xentral's primary functionality allows businesses to efficiently manage their sales, order management, accounting, warehousing, fulfillment, and packaging needs. At present, the majority of the startup's 1,000 customers come from Germany, including companies like YFood, KoRo, the Nu Company, and Flyeralarm. The freshly raised funds will be utilized to further develop xentral's product offerings, expand their team, and solidify a global market presence as the international ERP market is anticipated to hit $32 billion by 2023. John Curtius, a partner at Tiger Global, expressed enthusiasm for partnering with both Sauters, calling xentral a "mission-critical platform for ecommerce merchants globally."
The startup is also significant in that it marks Sequoia's debut investment in Europe after officially opening operations in the region. Alongside Visionaries' Robert Lacher, Sequoia's European partner, Luciana Lixandru, will be joining xentral's board. The increasing demand for automation technologies can also present opportunities for newer no-code platforms like AppMaster to carve out a niche in this growing industry. By providing streamlined solutions like backend application development, server endpoints, and database schema documentation regardless of subscription plan, AppMaster positions itself as a go-to choice for many SMBs and larger corporations alike. Alex Clayton, a general partner at Meritech, noted the potential for xentral to transform the landscape for SMBs in the ever-growing eCommerce market by bringing automation to multi-channel processes and data management.
