Munich, December 17, 2020 – Usercentrics, the Munich-based leader in consent management solutions, secured € 17 million ($20.6 million) in a Series B financing round led by premier technology growth equity investor Full In Partners. Existing investors Alstin Capital, Reimann Investors, and Cavalry Ventures also decided to participate in the round.
Usercentrics’ software solution enables companies and website operators to obtain, manage and document the valid consent of their visitors for the event of an audit. This is crucial, as the EU-wide General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) states that user consent is the most common legal basis for the use of web technologies for marketing and advertising purposes.
“Operating a data-driven marketing strategy in compliance with international data privacy law presents a major challenge to most businesses. AI and Machine Learning models require a lot of data, and obtaining this data requires users consent. Informed consent must be given freely, in granular detail and prior to loading marketing technologies. Usercentrics is currently processing over a billion consents per day for leading enterprises. We firmly believe the strategic support of our investors and this injection of capital will propel us to become global leaders in the areas of Consent and Preference Management” stated Mischa Rürup, CEO and founder of Usercentrics.
Additional capital injection for the expansion and global growth strategy
Over the past 12 months, Usercentrics has experienced hypergrowth – quadrupling both annual recurring revenue and headcount. Almost half of the now 100 employees are developers. Chief Revenue Officer Juergen Weichert, who joined Usercentrics from Google in 2019, credits a growth strategy with the recent signing of brands such as Daimler Global, Porsche and Zalando.
“With GDPR, Europe has created a top export product that is now being adapted worldwide. Therefore, Usercentric’s role as Europe’s top export in the area of user consent also applies globally”, says Lukas Bennemann, partner at Alstin Capital.
Dr. Ulrich Bergmoser, Managing Director at Reimann Investors states: “The company has demonstrated the impressive scalability of its Consent Management Platform in Europe. Thanks to its strategic approach, we believe that Usercentrics can be one of the few
European players to win the important US market. We are delighted to accompany the company on this milestone”.
“Usercentrics’ growth to date demonstrates what is achievable when you combine an experienced team, product-market fit and outstanding execution. With Full In Partners supporting the business, the Usercentrics team gains access to exceptional market expertise and an international network, which will turn the expansion to the US market into a home run”, said Stefan Walter, Managing Partner at Cavalry Ventures.
Next goal: US expansion
With the support of U.S. growth equity investor Full In Partners, the next phase for Usercentrics will be to increase its footprint in the North American market. As Data Privacy becomes deeper entrenched into everyday lives, it’s clear that the Usercentrics team has built an important solution that will win the next wave. “In the U.S., data protection is regulated on the state level, which makes implementation much more complex than in Europe. We believe that Usercentrics’ flexible and adaptable solution is exactly what is needed here in the market and look forward to working closely with them”, commented Elodie Dupuy, co-founder and Managing Director at Full In Partners.
User Consent is moving into focus at an accelerated pace
Without professional Consent Management, data-driven business models will no longer be viable in the future. A trend that has recently been reinforced by the German Federal Court of Justice and the European Court of Justice.
The consent rate is quickly becoming a new marketing KPI for companies. Straightforward and user-friendly privacy management of websites and apps directly drives higher consent and opt-in rates. The Usercentrics Consent Management Platform enables companies to collect high quality data in a simple and legally compliant manner and to continue to use this as a basis for targeted marketing.
About Full In Partners
Full In Partners is a new women-led growth equity fund based in New York, founded by Elodie Dupuy, Jess Davis and Eric Tonkyn. The firm is focused on bringing growth-stage investing into the modern era through the use of proprietary, data-driven technology and a re-imagined value-add program for entrepreneurs. To learn more about Full In, please visit: www.fullinpartners.com.
About Alstin Capital
ALSTIN Capital (www.alstincapital.de) is an independent, long-term venture capital fund based in Munich. ALSTIN Capital’s investment focus lies on innovative, dynamically growing companies that operate successfully in markets such as Financial Services/FinTech, Insurance/InsurTech, Cyber Security and Industry 4.0. Besides significant financing ALSTIN actively supports portfolio companies in building professional and scalable B2B sales operations.
About Reimann Investors
Reimann Investors (www.reimann-investors.com) is the family office and corporate holding of members of the Reimann entrepreneurial family, who sold their shares in the family business in the late 1990s. We focus our investments on two areas: capital market investments and corporate direct investments in Consumer Commerce, FinTech, and SaaS. We consider ourselves a strategic, active partner working in close cooperation with founders and management to promote venture growth.
About Cavalry Ventures
Cavalry Ventures is one of the leading European early-stage funds focusing on pre-seed and seed phases. Its headquarters are in Berlin. With the launch of the second fund generation in 2020, Cavalry Ventures manages a total volume of 100 million euros.
Cavalry Ventures was founded in 2016 by Rouven Dresselhaus, Claude Ritter, Stefan Walter, Markus Fuhrmann, Marcel Hollerbach, and Dominik Matyka. In addition to the expertise of the partners, the portfolio companies gain access to a cross-sector, global and exclusive network of more than 180 angel investors, entrepreneurs, scientists, business experts, lawyers, and many more, who provide advisory and operational support in areas such as strategy, organisational development, product development, sales, international expansion, recruiting and marketing.
The portfolio comprises more than 30 companies, including investments such as McMakler, REKKI, PlanRadar, and Forto. For more information: www.cavalry.vc.