- Knowde, an online marketplace connecting over 700 major chemical producers with customers around the globe, announced it raised $14 million in funding led by Sequoia Capital
Knowde — an online marketplace connecting over 700 major producers with customers around the globe — announced it has raised $14 million in Series A funding led by Sequoia Capital with participation from Refactor Capital, Bee Partners, Cantos Ventures and Knollwood Investment Advisory. This round of funding follows on the heels of Knowde partnering with DuPont, DSM, Braskem, Sasol, and many other major suppliers.
For over a century, the world’s chemical and ingredient producers have relied on outside sales teams, brochures, catalogs, and other traditional sales and marketing tactics with great success thus representing $5 trillion in annual sales and impacting over 25% of global GDP.
More recently, increased globalization, buyer preferences for a more digital and automated experience, and a changing supplier landscape have put pressure on producers to modernize business practices and make marketing their products more efficient. And Knowde is the first two-sided digital marketplace that is helping producers digitally transform their businesses.
By joining the marketplace, hundreds of producers have already streamlined their businesses, acquired new customers, and tapped new revenue streams.
Through the Knowde.com marketplace, hundreds of companies have launched digital storefronts allowing buyers around the globe to instantly search, sample, quote and purchase their products. And there are 700 chemical, ingredient, and polymer producers selling over 100,000 products to manufacturers of cosmetics, skincare, haircare, and other brand name consumer, commercial and industrial products.
Key Quotes:
“Sequoia has a history of partnering with and helping build category-defining companies that change the way entire industries do business,” said Ali Amin-Javaheri, founder and CEO of Knowde. “With the support of the Sequoia team and our other investment partners, we believe we can scale the Knowde marketplace to help every producer and buyer enjoy a consumer-grade digital experience.”
“We’re proud to partner with Knowde because Ali and his team have a vision to digitally transform the chemical industry and bring one of the largest industries online,” said Shaun Maguire, partner at Sequoia. “Many producers have been slow to build or adopt digital experiences for their customers, leaving them unable to fulfill the needs of a large segment of target buyers that are more comfortable with digital commerce. We believe Knowde is leading the industry into the future and has a huge opportunity to reshape how buyers and producers find one another.”
