CloudCart, the professional eCommerce-as-a-service, platform recently launched on the local market, plans to expand its market share in Central and Eastern Europe and attract up to EUR 3 million in a pre-Series A funding round. This strategic initiative aims to strengthen CloudCart’s position as a market leader in online commerce and support the development of online businesses in the region.
According to company representatives, CEE is a dynamic but underserved e-commerce market, with the region experiencing higher sales growth rates than many Western European countries, with the total value of the CEE B2C e-commerce market exceeding $70bn.
CloudCart, which provides integrated eCommerce solutions for approx. 1600 customers in 7 countries in the region, and handled transactions of more than EUR 300 million last year, aims to increase its market share in the region by attracting a preliminary round of funding of up to EUR 3 million. Current investors include Elevator Ventures, the venture capital entity of Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), Bulgaria-based New Vision 3 (NV3) and Shtilian Shishkov, founder of Sportal Media Group.
“Our experience in eCommerce for over 18 years has helped us understand a lot about how the market works. Our goal is to create not just stores, but successful online businesses. Given our accelerated revenue growth, we are determined to continue to provide high quality eCommerce solutions and to expand both in terms of our customer portfolio and the number of countries in which we operate. Through our constant commitment to innovation and acquired expertise, we are ready to consolidate our leading position in the CEE market”, says Nikolay Iliev, CEO and co-founder of CloudCart.
The funds raised will be used to accelerate the development and expansion of CloudCart’s capability in the CEE market, to support customers and partners in each area in which the company operates. By expanding into the CEE market, CloudCart will enable companies in the region to create and manage their online stores without the need for advanced technical knowledge or massive infrastructure investments.
The company’s unique eCommerce-as-a-service model, which involves a complete ecosystem of solutions that help merchants grow, from marketing and sales to business management, puts CloudCart at the heart of its customers’ eCommerce business operations. Furthermore, Cloudcart’s approach involves establishing strategic partnerships with trusted local players in the initial stage of entering a new market, such as payment service providers, delivery companies and
ERP systems, among others. This model has allowed the company to experience much lower abandonment rates than the large global players, at just 13% for CloudCart.
