Hexa is attempting one thing new. As a substitute of fostering startups from the bottom up and incubating them for the primary yr or so, the Paris-based startup studio is buying a majority stake in Veevart, a vertical software-as-a-service firm for museums that gives options for ticketing, fundraising, CRM and assortment administration.
Hexa is a well-recognized title within the French tech ecosystem. The startup studio initially began its life in 2011 as eFounders and commonly comes up with concepts for brand spanking new tech corporations. It tries to seek out the fitting founding staff and helps them with product design, go-to-market technique, hiring, and fundraising.
After this primary part, the businesses turn out to be correct, unbiased startups, however Hexa retains a big stake on the cap desk. Some profitable Hexa portfolio corporations embody Front, Aircall, Spendesk and Swan.
However Veevart isn’t a brand new startup. It was based in 2014 and now works with 160 museums and cultural establishments of all sizes around the globe. With its staff of 70 individuals, Veevart is already worthwhile.
The product has been designed as an all-in-one platform for museums, constructed on high of Salesforce. Museums that use Veevart can create and handle occasions, promote tickets on-line and onsite, handle memberships, automate communications to donors and combine with the museum store.
Many museums use a number of instruments for all these duties. Having a single platform makes it simpler to handle and keep over time.
The explanation why Veevart depends closely on Salesforce comes all the way down to Veevart’s founder Antonio Velasco Echeverry — earlier in his profession, he had labored with Accenture and Salesforce.
“I wouldn’t say I ‘selected’ to construct on high of Salesforce. Individuals typically assume these selections are intentional, however truthfully, luck performs a giant half. We didn’t select Salesforce — it was merely the expertise I knew greatest,” Velasco Echeverry advised TechCrunch.
Regardless of some platform limitations, he added that constructing on high of Salesforce has some benefits resembling safety, scalability and entry to your complete Salesforce ecosystem.
Veevart has bootstrapped itself for the previous decade and has been worthwhile for some time — “not extremely worthwhile, however worthwhile,” Velasco Echeverry mentioned.
“So once we began conversations with Hexa, we weren’t trying an excessive amount of for cash, however extra for a associate that would assist us get to our income targets quicker and with much less ache,” he added.
With this funding, Hexa acts as a form of hands-on personal fairness associate. The startup studio is investing €5 million ($5.4 million at present alternate charges) to turn out to be the primary shareholder in Veevart.
“Our goal is that Hexa may help us obtain $20 million in [annual recurring revenue], implement greatest practices round product, [go-to-market], gross sales, and management,” Velasco Echeverry mentioned.
Non-public fairness corporations sometimes don’t have interaction in small offers like this, whereas VC corporations sometimes search corporations with high-growth potential. However Hexa believes it may well elevate Veevart to the following degree by offering operational experience to speed up the corporate’s progress.
About The Author
