Convictional, the first supplier enablement platform for retailers and distributors to launch new brands on their dropship, marketplace, and wholesale programs, announced today that it has secured $40 million in Series B funding led by YC Continuity and has welcomed YC Continuity Managing Director Ali Rowghani to its board. The round featured participation from all existing major investors, including Lachy Groom and FundersClub.
“Convictional is modernizing B2B trade by making it drastically easier for retailers and brands to integrate,” said Ali Rowghani, managing director, YC Continuity. “Dropshipping is a $100B+ market in the US alone — and that is only a fraction of the overall wholesale opportunity they can serve with time. What is most exciting is that Convictional can help grow that opportunity even further: the easier it is for buyers and sellers to work together, the more products they can both sell.”
Ecommerce experienced tremendous growth in 2020, growing over 30% year-over-year, and exposed the need for retailers to be fast and nimble to adapt to ever-changing consumer preferences. That pace of growth continued in 2021, with total retail sales up 18% year-over-year in an industry that averages 2-4% of annual growth.
“The retailers that are thriving have today found a unique playbook to co-exist with the continued rise of the global mega-marketplaces. That playbook includes three things: identifying emerging brands before they become household names, onboarding and promoting them at lightning speed, and helping these brands tell their stories to the world,” said Rick Watson, founder of RMW Commerce Consulting.
Most retailers find it difficult to move quickly because of their dependence on electronic data interchange (EDI) to onboard brands to their stores. A recent RMW Commerce study found that onboarding a single vendor with EDI can take three to four months on average. Slow onboarding means retailers tend to onboard 4-5 new brands every quarter.
Convictional helps retailers launch new brands on their dropship, marketplace, and wholesale programs in minutes, with one-click Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce integrations and the ability to onboard classic brands via CSV and EDI files. The average supplier onboarding time with Convictional is ten days and retailers can onboard 20-30 brands a quarter.
“Retailers value the speed and freedom that Convictional gives them to provide fresh and differentiated experiences to their customers,” said Convictional co-founder and CEO Roger Kirkness. “That can be as simple as partnering with brands to capitalize on the latest Tik Tok trend. EDI is retail’s biggest hidden problem; Convictional is the solution.”
Enterprise retailers like Indigo, MADE.com, Staples and Harry Rosen can expand their product assortment, reduce inventory risk, and test new brands easily with Convictional’s supplier enablement software.
“Indigo’s ongoing commitment to giving a platform for small and local businesses, in addition to large vendors, is realized through the most seamless vendor experience with Convictional,” said Andrea Limbardi, Chief Digital Officer, Indigo.
While it has previously focused on the North American market, Convictional recently expanded its customer base to the UK with its recent partnership with furniture retailer MADE.COM.
“MADE.COM partnered with Convictional to help power its curated marketplace. The speed and ease with which designer makers, artisans and smaller brands can be onboarded helps to expand MADE’s homewares range through a dropship model,” said Geert Engels, Chief Technology Officer, MADE.COM
YC Continuity is Silicon Valley startup incubator Y Combinator’s growth fund. Some of YC Continuity’s investments include Checkr, Deel, Segment, and Stripe. The investment continues Convictional’s relationship with Y Combinator; it was a member of the incubator’s Winter 2019 batch of startups.
Convictional will use this funding to:
- Accelerate product innovation, specifically with features for wholesale trade relationships,
- Expand their sales and marketing efforts towards new customer acquisition, and
- Pursue its vision to enable every company, of every size, to automate B2B trade.
Convictional’s Series B round follows its $6.7 million Series A in 2021 led by Lachy Groom, with participation from Claire Johnson (former Stripe COO), Scott Belsky (Chief Product Officer, Adobe), Dave Cheesewright (former CEO, Walmart International), and Ram Shriram.
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