HELSINKI, April 28, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
The Combination of Digital Foodie and Enterworks Offers the First End-To-End, On-demand, Omni-commerce Solution for the Food and Grocery Industry
Digital Foodie, Ltd., the Finland-based software firm that operates across Europe and is expanding into the US, announced today that it has joined the EnterWorks Holding Company, the leading software provider for master data management (MDM) and product information management (PIM) solutions. The strategic investment in Digital Foodie will accelerate the development of Foodie's omni-commerce cloud platform that powers on-demand ordering, personalized shopping planning, digital commerce, order management and efficient fulfillment for enterprise and small grocers. The combination of Enterworks and Digital Foodie creates the first commerce offering focused on all aspects of the grocery supply chain, including serving CPG and manufacturing companies with a food-focused PIM solution. Digital Foodie will have its headquarters for North America at EnterWorks' offices outside of Washington, DC.
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"Our scalable cloud platform allows grocers of all sizes to quickly deploy an advanced on-demand commerce solution. Foodie built its foundation in the highly competitive European market with a customer base that includes the largest Finnish grocer, S-Group," said Kalle Koutajoki, co-founder and CEO of Digital Foodie. Our products are proven and have been deployed in over 1100 stores ranging from hyper-markets to grocery stores and convenience stores. We are also one of the few on-demand grocery providers that has cracked the code on driving retailer profitability in digital grocery. As a result, we have deep insight into the grocery business, from fresh to frozen to dry goods, shopping lists to planograms, fulfillment to store training. "We are excited to bring these insights and innovations from Europe to North America and vice versa. We will also expand the platform to help retailers with connected non-food ecommerce and are very excited to be working with our new investors who have a proven track record in driving rapid growth in ecommerce software companies."
"The Finnish consumer is highly demanding and adapts to new technologies easily. We are very pleased with our strategic partnership with Digital Foodie providing us a platform to co-innovate on new capabilities that are best-in-class globally. We have always believed in Finnish technology and are very happy to see a U.S. based company invest in Digital Foodie," said Ilkka Alarotu, Senior Vice President for retail business at S-Group.
The North American digital grocery industry, while far behind Europe in penetration, is growing at a 25 percent annual rate. While this rapid growth has attracted investment in digitally enabled grocery delivery companies, these companies pick and deliver food under their own brand name, weakening grocers' brands and customer loyalty. Digital Foodie empowers grocers to capitalize on their customers' interest in on-demand grocery services while maintaining control over their brand and customers' omnichannel experience.
"North American grocers can leapfrog competitors by moving to 'food on demand' with the best-in-class personalized digital platform that has performed successfully at advanced grocery and hypermarket chains in Europe," said Rick Chavie, CEO of EnterWorks. "Digital Foodie's 'Click and Collect' and delivery platform delivers seamless omnichannel experiences, and already has a beachhead in North America which we will help accelerate with focused support. As we bring content and commerce together for grocers and CPG companies here, we are also excited to bring EnterWorks' food sector experience to Finland and other European markets. This investment in food contributes to building out the EnterWorks Cloud for Content solution in global markets, taking end-to-end MDM and PIM into adjacent consumer goods vertical while bringing the same ease of use and personalization into industrial market sectors."
Strategically, the combination of Digital Foodie and EnterWorks creates a cloud model for grocers that offers an end-to-end solution addressing not only the consumer experience and store order fulfillment, but also digital product information and collaboration with food and CPG manufacturers and distributors who supply the grocer with products and digital content. The platform can also support restaurants embracing food on demand for customers.
The transaction was led by Black Dragon Capital, a technology focused private equity fund based in Miami Florida. "We are excited to help Digital Foodie and EnterWorks create a new paradigm in the on-demand retail sector, a business focused on helping retailers attract, retain and grow their customer base leveraging a unique end to end offering that marries loyalty, data analytics and commerce," said Tim Greenfield, Partner at Black Dragon Capital.
About Digital Foodie, Ltd. ( www.digitalfoodie.com )
Digital Foodie provides a fully customizable SaaS platform for on-demand groceries. It provides a personalized on-Demand grocery shopping service which is being used by major retailers and brands in markets across Europe. For consumers, Digital Foodie provides a service that empowers them to shop online, consume smarter and eat better. The core of the service is highly personalized food and product recommendations that make everyday shopping easy and fun. For retailers, the Digital Foodie platform provides all the tools needed to run modern online operations, click and collect services and home deliveries. Digital Foodie is currently available on web browsers, iPad, iPhone, Android and Windows Phone. Digital Foodie currently operates in the United States, Finland, Baltics, Russia and the UK.
About EnterWorks ( www.enterworks.com )
EnterWorks® master data management (MDM) and product information management (PIM) solution enables companies to acquire, manage and transform product information into persuasive content that drives higher sales and new competitive strengths. By leveraging a company's products, associated images and videos, brands and other marketing assets, EnterWorks Enable platform delivers powerful content through e-commerce Web, mobile, print and various electronic channels. EnterWorks is highly ranked by Gartner (recognized as an industry leader in centralizing product content for manufacturers and retailers alike in Gartner's Critical Capabilities Report from December 2015), Forrester and Ventana Research.
EnterWorks Enable acquires information from multiple sources, manages the information in a central repository powered by automated workflow, and syndicates the information to multiple applications, media, and participants. Enable assures customers that all their product information is accurate and up-to-date, and lets them publish and share it with consumers, partners and staff. EnterWorks Enable can be deployed in a cloud environment or on-premise. Customers span various industries including consumer goods, office products, equipment, fashion, hospitality, QSR, medical, technology and services. Food and CPG customers include Abbott Nutrition, US Foods, Fender Musical Instruments, Mary Kay, and Guthy-Renker, and a major restaurant group.
EnterWorks is wholly owned by Black Dragon Capital.
About Black Dragon Capital ( www.blackdragoncap.com )
Black Dragon Capital is a growth-oriented private equity fund focused on technology investment opportunities in ecommerce, financial services, and sports and media. Its founder and advisor Louis Hernandez, Jr. and team of industry professionals have significant operational experience, strong financial backgrounds, proven track records of success and investment experience ranging from startups to billion dollar organizations in both public and private vehicles. BDC offers a strategic difference with its real operating advice, C-level executives as partners and substantial experience in all phases of growth, as well as, significant international domain expertise.
Media contact:
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Nausheen Farishta
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Nausheen.Farishta@walkersands.com
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