SEPTEMBER 19 2022

Published in The Australian Financial Review

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Customer data integration platform Dataweavers is preparing to undertake its largest geographic expansion since it was founded in 2018, raising $5 million to help propel its entry into Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

Created by repeat founder and long-time digital consulting executive Ben Shapiro and digital marketer Anthony Hook, Dataweavers unifies customer data (which is usually spread across many systems) to enable enterprises to easily adopt software that lets them manage all their digital customer interactions from one platform. Examples of digital experience platforms (DXP) include Sitecore, Kentico and Salesforce DXP.

Early Go1 and Advanced Navigation investor, OIF Ventures, led Dataweavers’ new capital raise.

Speaking to The Australian Financial Review, Mr Shapiro said traditionally it takes many months, if not years, for companies to be able to utilise DXP software because of how siloed customer data is in their existing systems.

“It’s not unusual for us to talk to a customer who has spent 12 to 18 months trying to roll out a digital experience platform. We have one customer who had taken five years,” he said.

“We want to get our customers building the experiences that actually drive revenue.

“These platforms give brands the opportunity to build customer relationships... and we take the complexity out of standing up these platforms.”

Dataweavers uses the Microsoft Azure cloud platform and works specifically with Sitecore customers. Companies that use Dataweavers include Australian Retirement Trust, Isuzu and UnitingCare.

Mr Shapiro said companies were increasingly looking for marketing solutions that used only first-party data they collect directly from customers, since Apple changed its iOS privacy policies to enable users to stop apps tracking their behaviour across the web.

“Brands are needing to think about how to build profiles of their customers, without relying on third-party data or cookies,” he said.

“When they interact with a customer, be it on a mobile app or in a store, they want to know who that person is, regardless of where they’ve made a purchase.

“It can be anything from retail purchases, to business-to-business purchases. It’s a way of categorising who a person is.”

When this data is unified via DXP software, it lets businesses invest time in constructing customer interactions online which are more likely to lead to a sale.

The investment from OIF Ventures comes after the VC fund closed an oversubscribed $140 million raise for its third fund earlier this month.

“We had an instant connection with Ben and Anthony, and were deeply impressed with their unique approach in modernising complex applications and optimising operations in the public cloud,” OIF investor Anna Osipov Heymann said.

Mr Shapiro said it took the company about 18 months to find the right investor in OIF.

Until this point, the company has been self-funded, which he said had served the business well given the tech market correction and greater focus on pathways to profitability from investors.

“I always think about how to get revenue faster, but also how fast we can get to breakeven,” Mr Shapiro said.

“Thinking about using capital efficiently, versus just spending it all really quick, is how we’ve built our team and how we think generally.”

Mr Shapiro said the company would likely raise another round of capital, but he expected that to be at least 24 months away.

Meanwhile, the company’s focus is on establishing a global sales team and building a partner channel.

“We were lucky to pick up some US companies over COVID-19... and we already have quite a bit of traction there,” Mr Shapiro said.