With a new funding round closed, Jungle Scout has raised a total of $110 million to date and made its second acquisition, the Austin-headquartered software startup announced March 4.
The exact size of the new round was not disclosed, but it was led by Boston-headquartered investment firm Summit Partners, which now owns a majority stake in Jungle Scout. The company also closed a round of an undisclosed amount three years ago, CEO Greg Mercer said.
Jungle Scout has developed a platform that helps companies sell on Amazon, and helps those companies build their businesses using Amazon. Mercer founded the company in 2014. In October, he was named a Central Texas EY Entrepreneur Of The Year.
“Jungle Scout was one of the first companies to identify the opportunity to provide software-as-a-service-based tools to help businesses and brands expand their ecommerce footprints on Amazon and beyond,” Summit Partners Technologist in Residence Neil Roseman said in a statement. He is a Jungle Scout board member and was vice president of technology at Seattle-based Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) from 1998 to 2007.
Summit Partners' backing enables Jungle Scout to invest in areas such as helping “merchants and big brands looking for additional help, and we think we can help win online,” Mercer said — particularly as the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated adoption of e-commerce platforms throughout the business world.
A portion of the undisclosed funding round paid for the acquisition of Seattle-based Downstream Impact Inc., a technology company specializing in Amazon advertising. Another part of that fresh capital will go toward extending Jungle Scout’s SaaS platform in the future to facilitate selling through Walmart, according to the announcement. And it will fuel the company’s scaling of its advertising and e-commerce brand-management capabilities.
Mercer said other areas of investment will include “expanding to additional online marketplaces” and upping the company’s ability to crunch the voluminous amounts of data it is collecting.
Jungle Scout — which is owned by JS Operating Company LP, a Delaware limited partnership — in 2018 acquired Forecastly, “a predictive analytics and demand forecasting tool for Amazon sellers.”
The company has been profitable “since day one,” Mercer said, and generates revenues in the “tens of millions” but under $100 million.
Jungle Scout currently employs more than 200 throughout 16 countries. About 50 are based in Austin. Mercer said another roughly 50 work, respectively from Vancouver, Canada, and the company’s three offices in China. The final 50 work remotely.
The CEO said he plans on doubling the Austin headcount to 100 within the next 12 months, with a focus on filling out sales, marketing and product management teams.
Though the company is headquartered at 2021 E. Fifth St., staffers have been working remotely for months because of the pandemic.
Slideshow: Below, check out a tour of the Jungle Scout offices from 2019.
Jungle Scout
The coronavirus has resulted in Mercer’s decision never to require Jungle Scout employees to return physically to the office, even after the pandemic ends, he said. He envisions a hybrid model where those who desire returning to the office can do so.
“There’s something special about the human interaction, the human connection,” he said.
Among the ways Jungle Scout differentiates itself from competitors is its versatility. Mercer said the company serves small businesses and entrepreneurs, as well as large brands. Competitors include Germany-headquartered Sellics; California-based Helium 10, a brand of Pixel Labs LLC; and France-based DataHawk Technologies, according to G2.com Inc., a tech marketplace.
Jungle Scout said its customers surpass 500,000 brands and entrepreneurs.
