Contentful locked in a $175 million Series F and a $3 billion-plus valuation as it looks to take advantage of a more digital-first marketplace.
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The round was led by Tiger Global Management, with Base10’s Advancement Initiative and Tidemark also joining in. Founded in 2013, the company has raised approximately $335 million to date, according to Crunchbase data.
The company’s platform aims to help developers and builders create better digital experiences across websites, mobile apps and digital displays. The platform is a “microservice” for content, integrating with open APIs to allow companies to manage things like storage, availability and scaling of content — and letting developers and creators have more time to concentrate on other aspects of their jobs.
It basically does for content what Twilio does for communications and Stripe does for payments, said CEO Steve Sloan.
“We help take some of the complexity out of the developers’ hands,” he said.
Digital growth
Contentful had raised an $80 million Series E in June 2020 at a valuation approaching $1 billion. The company decided to raise partly due to the uncertainty the COVID-19 pandemic was causing, Sloan admitted. However, Contentful instead found more companies looking to enhance their websites and apps, increasing demand in the market.
“Phones are the front door to every company now,” Sloan said. “This is the digital-first era. Every company needs a compelling digital story.”
Contentful — which has main offices in San Francisco, Denver and Berlin — now works with 30 percent of the Fortune 500 and thousands of mid-market companies and startups, Sloan said. The 600-person company’s customer list includes Shopify, Staples, Atlassian and Electronic Arts.
While Sloan acknowledged companies like WordPress, Contentstack and Sitecore are also in the content management space, he said Contentful differentiates itself by allowing users to create more customizable digital experiences.
The company plans to use the new money to build out features its customers want, as well as increase sales and marketing, Sloan said. He added that both the company and its investors see significant potential in Contentful — and its investors know how to build large companies.
“Our investors here think their companies can be $1 billion-plus revenue companies,” he said.
Illustration: Li-Anne Dias.
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