Froomle raises €1.5M to become future AI leader in online personalization
Froomle, the AI for creating personalised consumer experiences, today announces a new investment round of €1.5M, led by PMV and Invistrax.
Froomle was founded in May 2016 by Dr Koen Verstrepen (CEO) and Prof Bart Goethals as a high tech spin-off of the Adrem Data Science Lab at the University of Antwerp. Froomle specialises in artificial intelligence modules for the fully automated personalisation of online content. Although their AI modules are widely applicable, the start-up focuses primarily on news and media and on e-commerce. The AI technology shows each individual consumer the most suitable products and content at the right time, via the right channel, in real time. This results in more visitors, who return to the customer's site more often and also show a higher conversion rate.
Enormous potential
Since its establishment, the company has experienced very strong growth, becoming the reference in their focus markets of media and e-commerce, and boasting an impressive customer base. Within the online publishing sector these include major publishers such as Mediahuis (Het Nieuwsblad, De Standaard, GVA) and GEDI Gruppo Editoriale (La Repubblica, La Stampa). Thanks to its AI module, Froomle is creating order in the oversupply of digital content that readers often experience as overwhelming and therefore abandon. With artificial intelligence, readers spend more time on the sites reading personalised content, see more advertisements and, thanks to the longer reading time, are more likely to take out a subscription. Froomle's e-commerce business unit follows a similar path, with well-known European retailers such as Veepee and Colruyt Group. Within the segment of companies with an e-commerce turnover of 1 million euros or more, the potential, also internationally, is enormous.
"I think it's great to unlock the power of AI for a whole new range of consumer experiences. The application of powerful AI should not be limited to the larger players in media and e-commerce, and we are eager to make powerful AI accessible to a much broader segment of the market," says Koen Verstrepen, CEO at Froomle.
Funding for international growth
With the new capital round at PMV and Invistrax, among others, as lead investors, Froomle wants to realise this access to the middle and lower market segments. Crucial to this are, on the one hand, opening up lower price brackets by making the AI more cost-efficient and, on the other, making onboarding possible for non-technical users via a no-code interface.
"We see Froomle as a future leader in AI at a global level," said Hendrik Vanmaele, Founding Partner at Invistrax. "The knowledge, experience and proven results in AI performance at Froomle are crucial in a world where AI is all too often just hot air. Add to that their developments to make their powerful AI technology more accessible and affordable, and success becomes inevitable."
Roald Borré, Group Manager Venture Capital at PMV is also convinced of Froomle's future success: "AI is paving the way to the digital future and the shopping experience of the increasingly demanding customer. The ability of the Froomle AI to demonstrate measurable improvements in a short period of time has made the company a reference. We are happy to put our shoulders under that expansion story with PMV".
About Froomle
Froomle is a leading AI company that fully automatically personalises consumer experiences in e-commerce and media. Thanks to its self-learning AI technology, Froomle clients can automatically recommend the right content to each individual consumer, via the most appropriate channel, at the most appropriate time. The use of the Froomle AI results in higher satisfaction scores, repeat customers, higher conversion rates and higher retention rates. With customers in three continents, Froomle has quickly become an international reference.
About PMV
PMV is an investment company that shapes the economic future of Flanders. PMV finances promising companies from the very beginning through growth and internationalisation. PMV offers tailored financial solutions to all entrepreneurs with a good business plan and a strong management team through capital, loans and guarantees. In addition, with and for the government, they realise projects that are important for the prosperity and well-being in Flanders, in cooperation with various partners. PMV has a portfolio of 1.4 billion euros under management. For more information, see www.pmv.eu.
Are you interested in knowing more about online personalization? Contact Froomle to discover how to get the most out of your seasonal personalization strategy.