The European Investment Bank (EIB) has provided a EUR 15m loan to Nosto, a Finnish-based company providing an e-commerce personalisation solution. The loan will support Nosto’s next stage of growth – global expansion and continuous product research, development and innovation. This EIB operation is guaranteed under the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), a key element of the European Commission’s Investment Plan for Europe, aiming at reviving investment in strategic projects around Europe.
Nosto operates in the rapidly evolving software-as-a-service (SaaS) segment, specialising in helping e-commerce merchants to improve their sales and overall customer experience by using Nosto Solutions' proprietary technology. The EIB financing will make it possible to create more innovative features using Nosto’s cutting-edge patented technology to help retailers grow their businesses with strong local support.
Adrian Kamenitzer, EIB Director for Equity, New Products and Special Transactions, said: “Strengthening Europe’s global competitiveness by supporting high-skilled employment opportunities and enhancing Europe’s position as a major technology supplier is high on the EIB agenda, and this is also promoted strongly within the Investment Plan for Europe. We are therefore glad to team up with Nosto in this breakthrough operation as it will enable the EU bank to support a European ICT company that is particularly strong in innovation and with significant growth potential.”
Juha Valvanne, one of the founders of Nosto, said: “Since launching our solution in 2013, we’ve seen the power of personalisation help online shoppers to find relevant products. We have developed a breakthrough SaaS platform that makes it easy for retailers to deliver personalised shopping experiences to every individual across all touch points. This is an exciting stage in our company’s growth and we’ll continue to focus our capital and energy on building a great product to empower retailers to succeed. This funding enables us to further innovate and continue our mission of connecting people with products across their entire shopping journey.”
Matti Rönkkö, CEO of Nosto, added: “The funding will help us grow our operations and introduce our cutting-edge patented technology to new markets. We will use the funding to keep attracting even more talents to our global team as well as investing in our personnel and product development. All of this will fuel our global growth and expansion even further. Our aim is to be the global leader in e-commerce personalisation.”
European Commission Vice-President Jyrki Katainen, responsible for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, said: "Global expansion and developing innovative products demands investment. Investing in research is a critical factor in ensuring that European companies, such as NOSTO, maintain their status as innovation leaders in e-commerce when competing in the global marketplace. I am delighted that the European Fund for Strategic Investments is playing an important role in facilitating such investments."
Since its public launch in October 2013, Finnish-based SaaS provider Nosto has experienced fast-paced growth across the EMEA and the US, now powering over 25 000 e-commerce professionals in more than 100 countries. Leading brands such as Everlast, Volcom, Twinings and Jack Daniels are among the thousands of global retailers that already use Nosto. Furthermore, Nosto is a key player in the e-commerce industry, collaborating with leading platforms as one of the few select Magento Premier Partners and as an official Shopify and Shopify Plus partner. Nosto also works with tech giants such as Facebook and leverages these partnerships to fulfil its mission of making it easy for retailers to provide their customers with personalised shopping experiences, at every touch point, across every device.
The EIB loan will be used to accelerate Nosto’s ongoing programme of product innovation and research, and to fuel the rapid expansion of Nosto’s presence in the US and EMEA markets.
The company will be hiring engineers at its headquarters in Helsinki and expanding its sales and marketing teams in New York, London, Stockholm and Berlin. Additionally, Nosto will open a Los Angeles office in the autumn to strengthen its support in the US market and will be recruiting skilled professionals.
Photographer: Alicja Chytla ©Nosto
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