Headless CMS firm Contentful raises $80m

18 Jun 2020

Contentful CEO Steve Sloan. Image: Contentful

Contentful has raised $80m in a Series E round led by Sapphire Ventures, bringing the total raised by the Berlin start-up to $158m.

Berlin-based Contentful, which develops headless content management systems (CMS), has raised $80m in Series E funding, in a round led by Sapphire Ventures.

Other investors in the start-up include General Catalyst, Salesforce Ventures and five other new and existing backers. To date, Contentful has raised a total of $158m.

The start-up also announced that it has hired a new CMO, Bridget Perry, who recently led Adobe marketing across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Contentful’s solution

Contentful’s headless CMS technology enables developers, designers and content creators to create and deliver digital experiences for different channels and devices. The start-up said it has seen increased demand during the Covid-19 pandemic, with brands relying on digital channels as their primary means of customer engagement.

It added that it has helped businesses to quickly respond to “what has become, almost overnight, a digital-only economy”.

Contentful said that 28pc of Fortune 500 companies are using its platform to manage and deliver content across websites, apps, wearables and digital displays. Among the firm’s customers are Spotify, Aldo, Urban Outfitters, Bang & Olufsen, Lenovo, Alpro and ITV.

Steve Sloan, CEO of Contentful, commented: “Legacy content management systems were built for a web-only era, before mobile devices became the front door to nearly every business on the planet.

“In this new digital-first era, companies must deliver content across devices and around the world. This changes the game, requiring new capabilities to create the next generation of digital experiences.”

The company plans to use the latest round of funding to scale quickly to “meet the demand and momentum” in the market. It currently has 400 employees in Berlin, San Francisco and other locations around the world.

A spokesperson from the company told TechCrunch that Contentful is approaching a $1bn valuation following the latest funding round.

Kelly Earley was a journalist with Silicon Republic

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