NEW YORK, Oct. 26, 2016 /PRNewswire/
-- Brickwork (www.brickworksoftware.com), the first
software platform to bridge the experience gap between e-commerce
and brick and mortar retail, today announced a $5 million Series A financing round led by
Safeguard Scientifics (NYSE: SFE), with participation from new
investor Recruit Strategic Partners, along with existing investors
Advancit Capital, Beanstalk Ventures, Cowboy Ventures and
Forerunner Ventures. Proceeds from the financing will be used to
expand sales and marketing and strengthen the platform with deeper
data science and analytics.
Founded in 2013, Brickwork is the first omnichannel software
solution to power a new digital presence for physical retail
stores, featuring online-to-in-store conversion funnels to
influence decision-making and improve overall customer experience.
Through advanced store locators and location pages, appointment,
event and promotion management, a customizable content management
system, and key data and analytics offerings, Brickwork has seized
noticeable market share with leading global brands such as Urban
Outfitters, J. Crew and Bonobos.
"There has been a fundamental shift in consumer behavior over
the past five years, which retailers are just beginning to wake up
to—that nearly every customer starts their buying experience in
digital," said David Munczinski,
founder and CEO of Brickwork. "Most retailers focus their websites
and digital marketing strategies around getting a customer to their
online checkout. However, they're ignoring the fact that the vast
majority of customers are online or on mobile devices with the
intent to purchase in-store. Brickwork recognizes this tremendous
market opportunity and has built a platform to increase conversion,
improve personalization, grow average order value, and in-turn,
generate higher customer life-time value."
Brickwork's clientele represents a major shift occurring in the
retail industry as a whole, as both traditional and digital-native
retailers see the value in physical stores as an engine for brand
experience and outlets to drive the final sale. As a result,
retailers are investing in technology that delivers a true
omnichannel presence.
"As we look ahead, we identified Safeguard and Recruit as the
right strategic partners to help us scale our business," Munczinski
continued. "Safeguard brings a proven track record of identifying
and scaling promising marketing technology companies, and we see
great partnership opportunities with partner companies such as
Clutch, MediaMath, Spongecell and WebLinc. In parallel, Recruit's
global footprint provides Brickwork with access to leading global
retailers."
"There is growing need by retailers to deliver a seamless,
omnichannel shopping experience that takes consumers from online to
physical stores, but yet most of the innovation to date has been
centered around a retailer's online presence," said
Safeguard's Managing Director, Erik B.
Rasmussen, who will join Brickwork's board of
directors. "Brickwork, led by a great team with deep domain
expertise in retail, omnichannel marketing and e-commerce, has
built a platform to bridge the gap between
consumer e-commerce and brick and mortar experiences by
powering a new digital presence for physical stores to help
drive online-to-store sales."
About Brickwork
Brickwork helps retailers inform,
target, convert, and prepare for store shoppers online as the first
scalable SaaS platform powering a seamless customer path between
online and in-store shopping. Today, the consumer journey to store
is digital: while 90% of sales occur in physical stores, over 80%
of customers start their path to purchase online. The Brickwork
platform includes applications around services and appointments,
events and promotions, and associates and stylists—all delivered
via immersive store pages and widgets embedded within e-commerce
sites. Founded in 2013 in New York
City by a team with extensive experience in omnichannel
marketing and e-commerce for world-class retailers and brands,
Brickwork is backed by Advancit Capital, Beanstalk Ventures, Cowboy
Ventures, Forerunner Ventures, Recruit Strategic Partners, and
Safeguard Scientifics (NYSE:SFE). For more information, please
visit www.brickworksoftware.com.
About Safeguard Scientifics
Safeguard Scientifics
(NYSE:SFE) provides capital and relevant expertise to fuel the
growth of technology-driven businesses in healthcare, financial
services and digital media. Safeguard targets companies that are
capitalizing on the next wave of enabling technologies with a
particular focus on the Internet of Everything, enhanced security
and artificial intelligence, which includes predictive analytics
and machine learning. Safeguard typically deploys between
$5 million and $25 million over the
course of its partnership with a company, initially investing in a
Series A or B Round and opportunistically in a Seed Round.
Safeguard has a distinguished track record of fostering innovation
and building market leaders that spans more than six decades. For
more information, please visit www.safeguard.com or
follow us on Twitter @safeguard and LinkedIn.
Forward-looking Statements
Except for the
historical information and discussions contained herein, statements
contained in this release may constitute "forward-looking
statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Our forward-looking statements are subject to
risks and uncertainties. The risks and uncertainties that could
cause actual results to differ materially include, among others,
our ability to make good decisions about the deployment of capital,
the fact that our partner companies may vary from period to period,
our substantial capital requirements and absence of liquidity from
our partner company holdings, fluctuations in the market prices of
our publicly traded partner company holdings, competition, our
inability to obtain maximum value for our partner company holdings,
our ability to attract and retain qualified employees, market
valuations in sectors in which our partner companies operate, our
inability to control our partner companies, our need to manage our
assets to avoid registration under the Investment Company Act of
1940, and risks associated with our partner companies, including
the fact that most of our partner companies have a limited history
and a history of operating losses, face intense competition and may
never be profitable, the effect of economic conditions in the
business sectors in which Safeguard's partner companies operate,
and other uncertainties described in our filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. Many of these factors are
beyond the Company's ability to predict or control. As a result of
these and other factors, the Company's past financial performance
should not be relied on as an indication of future performance. The
Company does not assume any obligation to update any
forward-looking statements or other information contained in this
press release.
MEDIA CONTACT
Heather
Hunter
Vice President, Corporate Communications
Safeguard Scientifics
610.975.4923
hhunter(at)safeguard(dot)com
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