Lomme-based customer feedback platform Critizr announced that it has raised €15 million in a new funding round to support an ambitious global growth plan.
Founded in 2012, the business also confirmed investment in two new offices – in London and Cologne – to spearhead its business development drive in Europe, adding to a 85-strong team at existing bases in Paris and Lille.
This round was led by 83North Venture Capital (formerly GreyLock IL), represented by Laurel Bowden, a successful investor at Hybris, Qlick tech, Mirakl and iZettle. All previous funding partners – Point Nine, Caphorn and Runa – reiterated their confidence in the Critizr business by participating in the round, which also marks the entry of prestigious business angels such as Florian Bressand (COO of Mirakl).
“83North has enabled many fast-growing software companies to realise their ambition and take big strides forward in their development,“ said Nicolas Hammer, CEO and co-founder of Critizr. “They are the perfect partner to help us achieve our goal to establish Critizr as Europe’s leader in feedback management for retail.“
“Customer experience at storefront level is critical for retail success,“ said Laurel Bowden of 83North. “We are very impressed how Critizr empowers store managers, in their daily routine with the right tools, and as a result, has significant impact on some of the most important business metrics such as revenue, NPS, purchase frequency and churn.“
As the retail sector continues to face unprecedented challenge and disruption, the Critizr Feedback Management solution has never been more relevant. It transforms the way businesses listen to and understand their customers, collecting feedback through a multi-channel, single interface hub across an array of channels every day. It then routes feedback to the relevant teams across the whole enterprise – from HQ to local branch level – to take swift and effective action.
Critizr already partners with over 80 of Europe’s biggest companies in 25 countries across retail, banking, travel, entertainment and hospitality, and in France alone, it connects to over 30,000 points of sale.
The company’s expansion plans in the UK will be driven by the positive results of long standing clients such as Carrefour, Total, Mr Bricolage, Nocibé, Flunch, Crédit Mutuel Monoprix and Havas Voyage: an optimised customer experience, stronger customer relationships, higher rates of customer satisfaction and loyalty, an improved e-reputation and NPS score – and ultimately, increased revenues and profit.
Founders Nicolas Hammer and Thibaut Carlier, CTO, created Critizr based on one observation: that brands and businesses don’t have the means to talk and listen to their customers. Critizr bridges that gap, ensuring companies can properly understand the customer experience and identify causes of irritation or delight.
As the retail economy shifts from transactional to experiential, brands with a better customer experience have been proven to achieve 1.5 times more sales than their competitors. Customer dissatisfaction cost companies €102 billion in 2017 (Accenture strategy study) with one of the key challenges identified as a lack of employee involvement in the customer experience.
“The Critizr solution hands the keys to customer-centricity to front line teams, making them more agile and effective,“ said Nicolas Hammer. “This local empowerment is the key to our success, since I believe it is the only way to deliver a better customer experience in business. Our experience with leading brands across Europe proves the positive results of transforming all employees into powerful customer champions in their own outlet.“
