We are thrilled and proud to announce a new significant step in our growth: the closing of a €5 million Series A round. This achievement has been made possible thanks to the trust of investors and customers over these years, and it propels us towards new milestones and platform developments. Qapla’ mission remains unchanged and will have even more strength: to simplify and empower the management of shipments for an increasing number of eCommerce businesses and to create a top-level Delivery Experience for every eShopper.
The €5 million Series A funding round was led by BlackSheep, the first European vertical venture capital fund specialized in Madtech segment investments. Also participating in the round were CDP Venture Capital SGR through the Fondo Acceleratori, the Venture Capital Fund managed by SIMEST on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and the regional co-investment fund Toscana Next, established and managed by CDP Venture Capital SGR and subscribed to by the major banking foundations in the Tuscany Region (Fondazione CR Firenze, Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca, Fondazione Caript, Fondazione Monte dei Paschi di Siena) to maximize investments in innovation for the territory.
The operation was coordinated by Giuseppe Arturo as a financial advisor, while the legal aspects were handled by the Chiomenti law firm in Milan, represented by Attorney Lucia Occhiuto and Attorney Davide Di Maio.
With the new resources, the company intends to continue the internationalization process started three years ago, expanding further into the European market. The goal is to enter new markets such as Germany and the United Kingdom and strengthen its position in the Spanish market, where Qapla’ has been active since 2020. The international development plan had already begun with an initial funding round of €950,000 obtained in November 2020.
To date, Qapla’, with over 40 employees located between its Italian headquarters and the operational hub in the Spanish market, has reached a monthly volume of 2 million managed shipments.
Founded in 2014 from an idea by Roberto Fumarola and Luca Cassia, professionals with 20 years of experience in the eCommerce industry, Qapla’ has developed an all-in-one platform that simplifies eCommerce activities by centralizing the management of post-purchase phases, from label printing to post-shipping marketing, to returns management. A scalable solution suitable for eCommerce businesses that handle a large volume of orders per month, Qapla’ combines its tech-oriented approach with a human-centered focus that places the customer at the center and makes the service highly customizable according to their specific needs.
The closing of this second round will allow us to continue innovating in the eCommerce world and to proceed with our internationalization project, aimed at establishing and consolidating our business model in the European market. The expansion will also be an opportunity to welcome new professionals and talents, further strengthening our team. Finally, the operation will allow us to continue on the virtuous path that has allowed us over time to do business, combining economic results with environmental performance. We are confident that in the coming years, we will achieve important milestones that confirm our commitment to responsibility.
Umberto Bottesini, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of BlackSheep, stated: “Qapla’ is an example of how our country can produce technology, especially innovative software solutions capable of finding international adoption in highly competitive markets like eCommerce and digital marketing. Our fund, with its extensive experience in the industry, specifically aims to support Italian and European innovation. The BlackSheep team is able to identify deserving companies like Qapla’ and support them with an industrial strategy aimed at further developing the product for export and making it competitive in global markets.”
“We have been alongside Qapla’ from the beginning of their journey and strongly believe in their innovative all-in-one proposal for optimizing eCommerce processes and in their growth plan in the Italian and international market, in line with the mission of the Fondo Acceleratori to invest in the early stages to continue supporting the best scaleups in the later stages” commented Stefano Molino, Senior Partner and Head of the Fondo Acceleratori at CDP Venture Capital SGR. “Today, we are particularly proud to have brought the resources of the Toscana Next fund into this round, established thanks to the major regional banking foundations to maximize the impact of investments in the territory, and the Venture Capital Fund managed by SIMEST aimed at supporting the internationalization projects of the best entrepreneurial entities, confirming that by networking, we can truly influence the future of national innovation champions.”
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