HOBOKEN, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Flow, a pioneer of the next generation for cross-border commerce, today announced a $13 million Series A investment from Bain Capital Ventures. The funds will be used to provide brands and retailers around the world with a fundamentally new platform that expands their e-commerce business globally, while significantly improving the customer experience.
The company was founded in 2015 by a pair of global retail technology leaders: Rob Keve, founder of customer experience innovator Fizzback, and Mike Bryzek, co-founder of e-commerce leader Gilt Groupe. Flow’s cloud-based software solution uses artificial intelligence and virtualization to remove the challenges facing cross-border commerce, addressing key requirements such as multi-currency pricing, cost efficient and rapid shipping, international payment options, well-defined taxes and duties, and simple returns. Consumers enjoy a localized shopping experience that mirrors shopping from a domestic merchant.
"We are excited to introduce a revolutionary new approach to international e-commerce," said Rob Keve, Co-Founder and CEO of Flow. "We are able to deliver the control, flexibility and simplicity that brands and retailers need to provide their international customers with a superior, local user experience. Our technology has fundamentally improved conversion rates of retailers who typically lose customers to the fears and uncertainties of cross-border commerce."
"As a long-time retail technology investor, it's rare to find a company like Flow that can have such a pervasive and profound impact on the retail industry,” said Scott Friend, managing director of Bain Capital Ventures. “Flow has solved one of the most significant challenges facing retailers today – automating the process to eliminate friction for merchants and eliminate uncertainty for consumers when shopping internationally. This has created an enormous opportunity that Flow is uniquely positioned to leverage."
Flow has developed the next evolution of global e-commerce software where merchants can now ship product from anywhere to anywhere in a cost-efficient manner by automating the end-to-end workflows across pricing, translation, landed cost, payments, and logistics. Flow is providing a pure cloud-based solution that is modular and fully configurable.
In addition to the Bain Capital Ventures investment, Flow has previously secured funding from some of the most notable industry entrepreneurs including Brian Lee (The Honest Company), Alexandra Wilkis Wilson (Gilt, GlamSquad), Alexis Maybank (Gilt, Project September), Shan-Lyn Ma (Zola) and David Tisch (Spring). The company is currently working with retailers and e-commerce merchants and expects to announce additional brands and retailers in the coming months.
About Flow
Flow is a global commerce platform that enables brands and retailers to sell their products to customers internationally by creating a localized shopping experience. Flow automates and simplifies every aspect of the international e-commerce process for its customers, removing the challenges facing cross-border commerce by offering benefits such as multi-currency pricing, cost efficient and rapid shipping, international payment options, well-defined taxes and duties, and simple returns. Brands and retailers use Flow's cloud-based software solution to better manage cross-border logistics, to reach a broader international customer base and to enhance the customer experience. For more information, visit http://www.flow.io/.
About Bain Capital Ventures
Bain Capital Ventures partners with disruptive B2B founders to accelerate their ideas to market. The firm invests from seed to growth in enterprise software, infrastructure software and industries being transformed by data. BCV has helped launch and commercialize 200-plus companies since 1984, including investments in DocuSign, Kiva Systems, LinkedIn, Rapid7, SolarWinds, SurveyMonkey, Taleo and TellApart. BCV has approximately $3.7 billion of assets under management with offices in San Francisco, New York and Boston. Follow BCV via LinkedIn or Twitter.
