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Profitable ConsumerDesk secures € 2.9 million in Third Funding Round and chooses new name: Ced
Added: (Mon Nov 05 2001)
- Driebergen, November 1st 2001 – ConsumerDesk, a provider of product information management solutions, today announced the closing of a third venture round, raising a total of € 2.9 million. Participating in the round were innotech GmbH and DVC Deutsche Venture Capital, both German venture firms. At the same time the company announces a new name that better reflects the company’s core business activity of selling software: Cedron.
CEO, Rene Jepma, announced: “We are very pleased to internationalise our shareholder base to better reflect Cedron’s pan-European customer base. Innotech and DVC have endorsed Cedron’s leadership in the rapidly expanding field of product information management and we look forward to working closely with them as we consolidate our position. We are proud to be closing this funding round in what is a difficult period for many growing technology companies. As an already profitable company we shall be applying the funds to further develop our association with our existing clients through enhanced products and new technologies, and to a controlled expansion of our sales organisation.”
Cedron has created an innovative product information management platform designed to substantially reduce the cost of managing product information throughout the supply chain. Unlike many traditional solutions, Cedron’s technology is able to deal with multiple data specifications, multiple languages, multiple country requirements and multi-channel publishing. The company is currently servicing customers in the manufacturing, retail and portal/publishing businesses across twelve European countries. Applications include Cedron Search Suite, Cedron Publishing Suite, Cedron Interactive Suite and Cedron Analysis Suite all of which are available for print, web-based and mobile platforms.
“In the current environment companies are more than ever focused on eliminating unnecessary cost and inefficiency,” commented Jepma. “Cedron helps companies work smarter, delivering both bottom line benefits and a more effective organisation, on a pan-European scale.”
“The quality and availability of product information is a cornerstone of all manufacturers’ communication. Cedron offers a cost efficient solution to solve this challenge. The current customer base of Cedron confirms to us that the market is ready for the solution,” states Bernhard Schmid, Partner at Innotech.
DVC Partner, Dirk Meurer adds: “The main trigger for our investment was the international character of the software solution, a great advantage for pan-European players.
This current funding round follows an initial venture round closed in April 2000, led by Nesbic CTE fund, which followed earlier funding from a number of private Dutch investors.
Cedron also announced the appointment of René Zwezerijn as Vice President Sales and Marketing. Mr. Zwezerijn joins from iMediation, where he was managing director of the Benelux operation. He previously held positions with Netscape, Silicon Graphics and Digital Equipment.
About Cedron
Cedron is a software solutions company offering a proven, universal product information management platform that enables the cost efficient storage, maintenance and distribution of product data. Cedron, formerly ConsumerDesk, commenced activities in February 1999. The ConsumerDesk brand continues in the form of the successful online buying guide. More than 100 customers in Europe currently make use of Cedron’s platform, amongst which Compaq, Acer, Minolta-QMS, BCC (Kingfisher group), Wehkamp (Great Universal Stores), Freenet, Matrix and Tiscali.
Cedron’s main objective is to optimise internal and external product information management, eliminating duplication of processes while facilitating multiple usages across devices and platforms. Cedron’s solutions enable the leveraging of information throughout the enterprise and beyond, to channel partners and end-consumers, accelerating time-to-market (2-4 months) and the revenue opportunities associated with information distribution, while improving quality, lowering operating costs and establishing a customized presentation of information to attract and retain more end users. Information: www.cedron.com and info@cedron.com.
About DVC
DVC Deutsche Venture Capital: Since its foundation in 1998, DVC has been investing in companies focusing on innovative markets such as information and communication technology, life science as well as micro system technologies. Depending on the individual requirement of capital and growth, seed-, early- and later-stage financing is provided. DVC draws on funds totaling about 300 million EURO at present. About 50 percent of these investments are allocated to IT-companies, respectively 25 percent to companies dealing with life science and micro system technologies. DVC has offices in Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich and Menlo Park. DVC is a partner of Deutsche Bank AG. Regional emphasis is put on Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the United States of America.
About Innotech GmbH
Founded in 1999, Innotech is a German based VC focused on IT, energy and environmental technology sectors in Europe. National and international institutional investors including EnBW, Germany’s third largest utility company, Mercurius and Siemens, contributed funds under management of DEM 130 million.
For more information:
Cedron B.V.
Ann Jepma
Hoofdstraat 248,
3972 LK Driebergen, Tel. + 31 343 529 529, Fax + 31 343 529 530 ajepma@cedron.com, www.cedron.com
DVC Deutsche Venture Capital,
Heidrun Luetzel,
Kennedyallee 10960596 Frankfurt am Main, Tel. +49 69 570 06 106Fax +49 69 570 06 200, heidrun.luetzel@dvcg.de, www.dvcg.de
innotech Gmbh
Anja Kinsky,
Brauerstr. 5076135 Karlsruhe, Tel. +49 72 182 47 212, Fax +49 72 182 47 299, akinsky@innotech.de, www.innotech.de