Czech customer data platform, based in Singapore, Meiro has successfully secured $3 million in an over-subscribed pre-Series A round led by Southeast Asian venture capital firm Wavemaker Partners, with participation from angel investors at Singapore-based Angel Central.
This marks Meiro’s first strategic funding round following five years of robust self-funded organic growth and profitability, Meiro said in a statement on Tuesday. According to the statement, the funding will be used to accelerate the Czech (but Singapore-headquartered) company’s growth trajectory.
Additionally, the company plans to enter new markets, starting with the establishment of a branch in Dubai slated for 2024.
“We are thrilled to have gained the trust of some of the best brands in Southeast Asia after years of building a sustainable business,” said Meiro Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Jana Marlé-Zizková. “We are excited and appreciative of the opportunity to partner with the region’s most respected venture capital funds, Wavemaker Partners and the Angel Central group. In choosing our partners, we prioritized synergy in values, the chemistry between the teams, and their deep understanding of our business to business (B2B) enterprise software industry,” she adds.
Due to the rapid shift towards first-party data utilization and the increasing challenges of customer data privacy regulations, she opines that there is an unprecedented high demand for technology solutions such as Meiro.
“While we have always been self-sufficient, this investment will help us address market demand, accelerate the development of our product and business, and strengthen our presence in the international markets while we have a competitive advantage,” she adds.
According to the statement, evolving data privacy regulations have resulted in the decreased use of third-party cookies that help brands understand customer behavior and preferences. This trend, along with soaring marketing costs, presents a considerable challenge for brands.
Founded in 2018 by Pavel Bulowski, Jana Marlé-Zizková, and Vojtěch Kurka, who were previously data consultants for companies in Southeast Asia, Meiro is dedicated to empowering brands to better comprehend and meaningfully engage with their customers, consequently improving marketing efficiency and maximizing return of investment (ROI) through customer satisfaction. By focusing on first-party data, Meiro analyzes customers’ digital identities, enabling brands to recognize and track customers across various touchpoints. This approach was built on the principles of customer relationship management (CRM) but combines it with behavioral data from mobile apps and websites, providing a true 360 customer profile. Thanks to its unique graph-stitching technology, Meiro can efficiently handle millions of customer profiles.
“Meiro’s level of precision, scalability, and speed is crucial for businesses that manage large datasets and require quick adjustments to their marketing strategies,” said Paul Santos, Managing Partner at Wavemaker Partners.
“We’re thrilled to partner with them as they enter a new chapter and expand to new markets in Southeast Asia, Europe, as well as the Middle East. Moreover, we’re impressed by how the company has bootstrapped its way to winning contracts from major global enterprises like BCA, Chemist Warehouse, Societe Generale, Dr Max Group, and DER Touristik despite stiff competition from better-funded competitors,” he added.
Operating on a self-sustaining business model, Meiro has effectively navigated through the global economic downturn. Now equipped with new funding, the company is poised to grow its team from 50 to 70 members and aims to double its annual revenue.
“I believe that with the growth of our team, we will be able to fulfill new tasks and ambitions more effectively,” Pavel Bulowski, Chief Product Officer and Co-founder of Meiro. “We will also introduce a brand new product. In addition, we are gearing up to penetrate the hugely promising Middle Eastern market after launching our initial partnerships and securing our first clients there in late 2023,” he added.
Meiro’s decision to seek investment aligns with the maturation of the CDP market and the increasing trend among companies towards customer-centric, data-driven strategies fueled by the depreciation of third-party cookies and heightened focus on data privacy. The founders believe that recognizing each customer as a unique individual is vital for building satisfying and profitable customer experiences, necessitating the strategic use of first-party data.
