Scaleworks, a San Antonio-based venture finance and equity firm, has acquired internal site search provider SearchSpring. The acquisition will provide SearchSpring with resources and investment to scale its internal search offerings while growing its merchandising capabilities.
What is SearchSpring? Founded in Denver, CO in 2007, SearchSpring specializes in supplying search, navigation and merchandising technology to direct-to-consumer companies and sites. Their clients include brands like Bethesda Game Studios, Volcom, Bikini.com and Moen. SearchSpring’s products integrate with major e-commerce platforms such as Shopify Plus, Magento, Miva and BigCommerce.
More on the acquisition. Operated independently as a bootstrapped company until just recently, SearchSpring is Scaleworks’ first venture into e-commerce. As part of the acquisition, Peter Messana, former COO of GroupBy, will replace SearchSpring founder Gareth Dismore as CEO.
A press release by SearchSpring states that the acquisition will help take the company’s Relevancy Platform, which enables merchants to control and automate how products display across their entire site, to more brands and retailers.
Why we should care. This year, e-commerce sales are projected to grow 15.1% (to $605.3 billion) in the U.S. alone and D2C brands like Bonobos, Warby Parker and Brandless are gaining traction with consumers. Which online retailers will be able to capitalize on these trends may be determined by their user experience and how well their sites function on the back end. Scaleworks’ acquisition of SearchSpring may help develop and provide the tools necessary for e-commerce brands to face challenges on both sides.
About The Author
George Nguyen is an Associate Editor at Third Door Media. His background is in content marketing, journalism, and storytelling.