If you read my posts, you know that I am a fan of the Spotify story, as it exemplifies my conviction: European start-ups can only become global leaders if they invent a new category (and execute fast enough to reach escape velocity).
Mirakl: a global leader in the making
Out of the French unicorn batch, I would pick Mirakl as the most promising scale-up, with the potential to become a global leader.
I met Philippe Corrot, the co-founder and CEO, in 2007. At that time, he was heading Spitgames, a video game exchange marketplace. We sold him one of our first Feedback2.0 customer community platforms to help create a community feel and a modern feedback loop.
While being a self-made man, he was already a serial entrepreneur, having launched two previous start-ups. He was already innovating, being a visionary in understanding the power of communities and marketplaces.
I am not sure Splitgames was the success he hoped for, but he managed to sell it to FNAC, a large retailer of electronics and cultural goods.
A unique experience
Within FNAC, he reused Splitgames marketplace technology to launch the Fnac.com marketplace, which exceeded FNAC expectations and contributed to the success of the e-commerce division.
I believe he had ample time to study and understand the metrics and dynamics of marketplaces, the knowledge he would use to convince his first customers at Mirakl.
Interestingly enough, he chose to become a technology provider to power his customers’ marketplaces instead of creating his own group of marketplaces.
I often meet people who have issues deciding whether the technology they developed internally was a competitive differentiator for their service or should be outsourced and sold as a SaaS.
A software company is such a different beast that I advise them to skip launching a second activity if they don’t have solid product management skills and some technical background.
Mirakl, the e-commerce marketplace SaaS platform
They enable retailers to augment their inventory with 3rd party-sourced products through a sleek and integrated platform, thus increasing customer satisfaction and GMV.
After raising more than $900M, it has grown to $100M ARR and ranks as the #1 provider in this new category. They helped generate additional revenues of $43bn for their customers.
Mirakl created the e-commerce marketplace platform, and they are the global leader in this category. W00t! What an achievement for a European company!
Still, there is a number of competitors in the broader digital commerce platforms category it needs to keep in check.
It is clear now, that marketplaces are the obvious choice for retailers that want to leverage their brand and audience to sell more products. It also seems natural for product manufacturers to sell not only on their own e-commerce site, but also on popular marketplaces.
Mirakl was the enabler and catalyst of that movement.
Miraklr has more potential than other unicorns
Why do I think so?
1/ First, they are already the global leader, which means that they will continue to accrue advantages that only leaders benefit.
2/ The fact that they could sign US companies proves they have:
a great co-founder leading US efforts
the perfect time to market (understanding the need before customers realize)
a reputable leading position with many reference customers and several US VCs
3/ They are part of the larger e-commerce market, and still have many ways to diversify and expand their product portfolio (as proven by their recent acquisition of Target2Sell or the development of their new payment solution).
4/ They have a unique expertise (as compared to unicorns solely based on UX revamps) that will continue to expand and create a gap with whichever copycat.
Spotify and Mirakl are paving the way
Again, they are exceptional examples of how Europe-based start-ups should aim to become global leaders.
Understand the future before anyone else, create a solution to a pending problem, grow as fast as possible to avoid being caught up by US counterparts.
Do you have this level of ambition? Let’s talk!