Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Karlsruhe, Germany, with additional offices throughout Europe, Sovendus offers its clients in the e-commerce sector a range of innovative, data-driven and AI-powered marketing and customer retention solutions. Central to these solutions is Sovendus’ closed shop network, within which online shops can incorporate various revenue-increasing features into their websites, such as voucher offers or advertisements for other shops in the network. This in turn allows shops in the network to benefit from each other by increasing their reach and acquiring new customers, while incentivizing existing customers. In 2020, Sovendus generated more than five million transactions across the 1,200 shops in its network.
BU partnered with the founder Oliver Stoll and Michael Kofluk in late 2015 and together initiated a successful buy-and-build strategy, executing four add-on acquisitions over the years. In June 2016, Sovendus acquired two competitors with smaller e-commerce networks – Tharuka GmbH, based in Freiburg, and RMD Regional Marketing Deutschland GmbH, based in Offenbach, both of which specialized in revenue increasing solutions for e-commerce shops based on free trials for newspapers and magazines from various publishers. In February 2017, the company completed the acquisition of reichweite² beratung & medien GmbH, based in Ulm, another competitor offering similar solutions as Tharuka and RMD. Finally, in November 2020, Sovendus completed a fourth acquisition of a former direct competitor in the voucher offering on check-out pages space, Switzerland-based adfocus GmbH, which developed a Swiss network for e-commerce shops, Profity.
These acquisitions allowed Sovendus to significantly expand the reach of its partner network and customer base, as well as access new market segments, particularly among publishers. In addition, the company’s innovative service offering was continuously improved and today includes solutions for newsletters and client mailings. Together with its new owner, Sovendus will focus on further expanding its network and extending its already strong position in the European e-commerce market in the coming years.
We would like to thank the founder, the co-investors and the management team of Sovendus for the excellent partnership over the past years and wish them continued success in the future.
