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It would be impossible to cover any news this month without acknowledging <a href="https://www.economist.com/ukraine-crisis" target="_blank">the crisis in Ukraine</a>. 
As many CMS and DXP vendors rely on the incredible talent and resources of the people in this region, the events of the last few weeks have hit especially close to home. Even as we publish our February recap, things continue to unfold – and our hearts go out to the people of this magnificent country.
Of course, this tragedy is evolving just as many countries are emerging from the worst of the <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/healthcare-systems-and-services/our-insights/when-will-the-covid-19-pandemic-end" target="_blank">Covid-19 pandemic</a>, with many businesses poised for a return to normalcy (what that looks like still remains to be seen). Still, the lasting impact of the omnichannel revolution is being felt across all digital transformation strategies, giving way to more headless, composable, API-driven solutions as companies plan for a more digital future.
When it comes to movers and shakers, 2022 is starting much the same way as 2021: with big investments.
<a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/bloomreach-reaches-2-2-billion-valuation-following-175-million-investment-from-goldman-sachs/">Bloomreach</a>, a leading content and search platform focused on commerce, announced a $175 million round of funding – exploding its valuation to $2.2 billion. <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/elastic-path-secures-60m-in-funding-for-composable-commerce-growth/">Elastic Path</a> also made waves by securing $60 million in financing to grow its composable commerce solutions. We also saw <a href="https://www.pymnts.com/acquisitions/2022/ecommerce-platform-bigcommerce-acquires-software-firm-b2b-ninja/" target="_blank">BigCommerce</a> purchase B2B Ninja, an e-commerce platform, in an effort to energize quoting and other commerce services in their ecosystem. (Hint: we have more investment news below...)
As always, we try to recap some of the news you might have missed this month. There's a lot happening across our industry, and on a brighter note, we'll be announcing the winners of the CMS Critic Awards next week – both the People's Choice and Editor's Choice categories. We had a lot of great engagement over the last month across our social channels, and we're looking forward to sharing the results. 
<h2>Twilio Segment releases its 2022 CDP Report, finds CDPs booming as businesses look beyond cookies</h2>
We're all asking the same question: what happens to data in a post-cookie world?
Segment – a leading customer data platform (CDP) purchased by Twilio<a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/twilio-acquires-segment-for-3-2b-adds-market-leading-cdp-for-building-data-driven-apps/" target="_blank"> in November of 2020</a> – is helping to shed some light on that query with the release of its third annual <a href="https://segment.com/the-cdp-report" target="_blank">Customer Data Platform Report </a>(CDP).
Based on anonymized platform usage data of Segment's 25,000+ customers between 11/1/2020 to 11/1/2021, the report finds aggressive adoption of CDPs over the past year as businesses build digital-first customer engagement strategies and reduce their reliance on third-party data. 
Covid-19 shifted consumer behavior on a number of levels. In response, organizations changed how they interacted with their customers. As more digital engagements ensued, so too did the amount of data being generated. This spurred an explosive demand for CDP layers, particularly as it related to the broader CMS and DXP ecosystems.
Along with the unimaginable growth in data, the volume of API calls has also skyrocketed. <a href="https://www.postman.com/" target="_blank">Postman</a> – a leading application platform for API testing – conducted a <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/postman-releases-2021-state-of-the-api-report-shows-global-trend-towards-api-first-digital-era/" target="_blank">survey</a> last year that showed the world is moving to an "API-first era" as integrations and endpoints expand exponentially. As an example, the API calls through Segment have been growing steadily year-over-year since 2017, but 2020-2021 was an inflection point – with API calls in their system reaching over 1 trillion per month. 
Another reason CDP popularity has rapidly exploded is the impending "death" of third-party data. With increasing privacy regulations and the shift to a cookieless future across apps and browsers, businesses are embracing first-party data as a focal point. 
Segment's findings validate that customer data has become an integral part of how organizations are powering their digital experiences. The report also lists 2021's fastest-growing apps. For more details, you can access the full report at: <a href="https://segment.com/the-cdp-report" target="_blank">https://segment.com/the-cdp-report</a>.
<h2>Headless commerce provider fabric announces $140 Million Series C funding led by SoftBank</h2>
<a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-headless-commerce-platforms/" target="_blank">fabric</a>, the fast-growing headless commerce platform, announced the closing of a Series C funding round of $140M led by Softbank, with participation from Forerunner Ventures, Glynn Capital, and existing investors Redpoint Ventures Norwest Ventures, and Stripes. 
This latest round of funding closes a mere 219 days after its Series B – and now positions fabric's value at approximately $1.5B.
"Retailers need to meet modern consumers wherever they are – whether online, offline, mobile, social, or any future entry point. This means merchants of all sizes, and especially mid-market and enterprise, need the right commerce platform to keep pace with evolving trends," said Robert Kaplan, Investment Director at SoftBank Investment Advisers. "We believe that fabric has built the industry's best API-first modular commerce platform and accompanying commerce applications to give merchants unrivaled power and flexibility, all in a manner that reduces the pain of migrating over from legacy, outdated commerce platforms."
Funds from the Series C round will be utilized for accelerating product development largely through automation and intelligence and geographic expansion. 
<h2>Netlify announces Netlify Graph: A faster way for teams to develop web apps with APIs</h2>
Netlify, a Git-powered static site generator and headless CMS that's all the rage in the <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-jamstack-static-site-generators-for-2021/">Jamstack</a> community, has <a href="https://www.netlify.com/blog/announcing-netlify-graph-a-faster-way-for-teams-to-develop-web-apps-with-apis" target="_blank">announced Netlify Graph:</a> a GraphQL-powered experience designed to help developers build interactive and connected web applications faster.
The shift to API-first development has created an ecosystem where apps are modular and reusable. While the API-first approach is developer-friendly, it has also introduced new complexities such as discovering, securing, learning, and governing APIs. Netlify's Graph is designed to make this experience easier for developers, allowing them to use APIs without writing undifferentiated glue code, learning every API's unique structure, or composing endless amounts of endpoints to get data from various APIs into your app.
Netlify Graph is in public beta and available globally. It starts with a catalog that includes some of the most frequently requested APIs that development teams use, such as GitHub, Stripe, and Salesforce. The company plans to add more in the coming months. The Netlify Graph beta is available to all Netlify users and can be accessed from your <a href="https://app.netlify.com/" target="_blank">Netlify team dashboard</a>. Once logged in, simply select "Graph" from your Netlify site dashboard menu.
To learn more, head over to the <a href="https://github.com/netlify/labs/tree/main/features/graph/documentation" target="_blank">Netlify Graph docs.</a>
<h2>BigCommerce acquires B2B Ninja to make online selling easier for B2B merchants</h2>
<a href="https://www.bigcommerce.com/?utm_source=Business+Wire&amp;utm_medium=press+release&amp;utm_campaign=BigCommerce+Invests+in+Becoming+World%E2%80%99s+Most+Powerful+B2B+Ecommerce+Platform+with+Acquisition+of+B2B+Ninja" target="_blank">BigCommerce</a>, a leading cloud e-commerce platform, <a href="https://www.bigcommerce.com/press/releases/bigcommerce-invests-in-becoming-worlds-most-powerful-b2b-ecommerce-platform-with-acquisition-of-b2b-ninja/" target="_blank">announced</a> the acquisition of <a href="https://www.b2bninja.com/" target="_blank">B2B Ninja</a> (formerly Quote Ninja) – an enterprise software solution that provides leading business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce capabilities for merchants of all sizes.
<a href="https://www.forrester.com/playbook/The+B2B+eCommerce+Playbook+For+2018/-/E-PLA370" target="_blank">According to Forrester</a>, U.S. B2B e-commerce transactions are expected to reach $1.8 trillion by 2023. This is creating a groundswell of opportunity for e-commerce platform providers to deliver focused solutions to this segment of the market. A longtime BigCommerce partner, B2B Ninja brings its best-in-class quoting solution to help streamline transactions by delivering powerful e-commerce functionality to B2B merchants.
"B2B Ninja is an excellent addition to our already strong B2B capabilities," said Brent Bellm, CEO of BigCommerce. "Complementing our recent launch of B2B Edition, this is the next big step in providing a platform that is easier to use and faster than legacy B2B solutions and more flexible and powerful than other SaaS platforms. We continue to invest in ways that make BigCommerce the best platform for merchants of all sizes regardless of who or where their customers are or where merchants are selling."
B2B Ninja is available to any BigCommerce merchant on any plan to enhance the customer experience and easily manage quotes online.

CMS Monthly Recap: Big Investment News, Segment Releases 2022 CDP Report, Netlify Graph Launches and More

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<a href="https://www.bloomreach.com/en">Bloomreach</a>, a leading Digital Experience Platform (DXP), has announced their acquisition of <a href="http://www.exponea.com/">Exponea</a>, a Customer Data and Experience Platform (CDXP). This news comes just months after both companies publicized a <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/bloomreach-and-exponea-announce-strategic-partnership-to-energize-digital-commerce-experiences/">formal strategic partnership</a>.
With the acquisition, Bloomreach could very well become the next SaaS “unicorn” of the digital experience stack, integrating their market-leading e-commerce capabilities with Exponea’s best-in-class customer data (CDP) and marketing automation platform. This combination has the potential to accelerate the creation, personalization, and optimization of powerful commerce experiences – and drive rapid growth for both B2C and B2B brands.
The last two weeks have seen a dramatic news cycle from across the DXP stack, with major investment announcements from industry leaders like <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/sitecore-embarks-on-1-2b-investment-plan-to-accelerate-growth/">Sitecore</a>. As Covid-fueled digital transformation continues to drive market activity, companies are leveraging billions to fund their expansion strategies. To support the acquisition of Exponea, Bloomreach also announced an investment of $150 million from Sixth Street Growth.
“We have been incredibly impressed by the leadership teams of both Bloomreach and Exponea and look forward to partnering with them as they continue to develop and capitalize on their market-leading platform,” said Michael McGinn, Partner at Sixth Street and co-head of Sixth Street Growth. “Technology serving more bespoke customer experiences is a rapidly expanding market and we are pleased to join Bloomreach in its leadership of the digital commerce experience and marketing sector.”
The investment from Sixth Street Growth will also fuel the ongoing growth of Bloomreach’s digital commerce experience platform. Bloomreach Experience Platform (<a href="https://www.bloomreach.com/en/products/bloomreach-experience">brX</a>) drives over $200 billion in digital commerce experiences across many of the world’s largest online retailers, brands, distributors, and B2B manufacturers – representing 25% of retail e-commerce in the U.S. and U.K.
<h3>From partnership to acquisition</h3>
As noted, Bloomreach and Exponea had only recently announced a strategic partnership – a calculated first step towards integrating the companies. By working with a shared customer base, it’s fair to say that the alliance served as a testing ground for combining Bloomreach’s rich catalog of DXP capabilities with Exponea’s customer-centric approach to unifying data.
As digital technologies evolve at an accelerated pace, enterprise organizations are doubling down on solutions that enhance the value of data. While third-party platforms will continue to have a role in every ecosystem, brands are struggling to stitch together multiple solutions with manual effort – and falling behind. By integrating the digital experience and customer data layers, businesses will have greater control over personalizing and optimizing the customer experience.
The combination of Bloomreach and Exponea will deliver the market’s only true commerce experience platform, unifying the full spectrum of customer and product data. Bloomreach’s real-time, AI-based recommendations and actions will allow clients to drive purchases and enhance loyalty, while Exponea’s customer data capabilities will augment relevance and improve performance. Further, Exponea’s leadership in consumer data, privacy, and security will ensure that customers can securely access and manage this powerful integration of data.
For information on how Exponea’s data privacy will be handled post-acquisition, click <a href="https://exponea.com/legal/data-privacy/">here</a>.
<h3>What’s next for Bloomreach?</h3>
DXP is on fire – and the Covid-19 pandemic was the match. As companies and brands pivoted towards digital at a breakneck pace, technology providers were crushed under the weight of a decade of transformation.
Consolidation continues to be a core strategy: in the past six months alone, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/hyland-acquires-alfresco-focuses-on-cloud-and-global-expansion-of-enterprise-cms/">Hyland acquired Alfresco</a>, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/twilio-acquires-segment-for-3-2b-adds-market-leading-cdp-for-building-data-driven-apps/">Twilio acquired Segment</a>, and most recently, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/episerver-rebrands-as-optimizely-following-acquisition/">Episerver acquired Optimizely</a>. Meanwhile, enterprise DXP providers such as <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/acquia-digital-commerce-unifies-data-content-commerce-and-digital-merchandising/">Acquia</a> and <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/sitecore-embarks-on-1-2b-investment-plan-to-accelerate-growth/">Sitecore</a> released major new products and services. While acquisition is key, many leading DXP platforms (along with CMS, CRM, and more) are investing in innovation to compete beyond 2021.
With competition getting so fierce – particularly amongst enterprise players – Bloomreach is exerting more dominance in the e-commerce category. However, while other DXP and CMS platforms pose a threat to market share, one of the biggest existential challengers is <a href="https://www.amazon.com/">Amazon</a>.
By combining capabilities, Bloomreach and Exponea are continuing to fortify the beachhead against the world’s largest online retailer – and enabling brands to shape their e-commerce strategy to compete more effectively. This could give them a significant edge in the coming years, especially as Jeff Bezos steps down and Andy Jassy, the head of AWS, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/video/2021/02/02/andy-jassy-to-become-amazon-ceo-jeff-bezos-to-become-executive-chairman.html">takes the reins as Amazon’s new CEO</a>.
“Incredible e-commerce experiences happen when we reach a customer with exactly the right product at the right time on the right channel, and that requires a deep understanding of products and people which hasn’t been possible until now,” explained Raj De Datta, CEO, Bloomreach. “The coming together of Bloomreach and Exponea positions Bloomreach to be the market-leading commerce experience platform in a multi-billion-dollar market that is expanding quickly. As a solution, Bloomreach is now uniquely at the intersection of marketing, commerce, and AI.”
<h3>About Bloomreach</h3>
<a href="https://www.bloomreach.com/en">Bloomreach</a> is a digital experience enhancement platform that enables highly personalized digital experiences for retailers, banks, distributors, manufacturers, public service agencies and other enterprises. It powers brands representing 25% of US and UK e-commerce. Its flagship product, brX, is a digital experience platform built specifically for brands, retailers, and B2B companies who want to grow their revenue online while delivering each of their customers a premium, personalized commerce experience. brX combines content management capabilities with market-leading commerce-specific, AI-driven search, merchandising, and personalization in one flexible, API-first next-generation platform. Bloomreach serves over 500 global brands including Albertsons, Staples, Bosch, Puma, FC Bayern München, and Marks &amp; Spencer.
<h3>About Exponea</h3>
<a href="https://exponea.com/">Exponea</a> is a Customer Data and Experience Platform (CDXP) that collects and unifies data from all customer touchpoints into a unified Single Customer View and utilizes this data to help e-commerce businesses to convert and retain customers by acting on customer signals with the right message at the perfect time through the preferred channel. Built from the ground up (i.e. no acquisitions) for retail and e-commerce, Exponea collects and unifies data from all customer touchpoints to give businesses the insights and action opportunities they need to execute campaigns that deliver real results.
<h3>About Sixth Street</h3>
Sixth Street is a global investment firm with over $50 billion in assets under management and committed capital. Sixth Street Growth is the firm’s dedicated platform for making customized, non-control private investments in growth-oriented companies. The Sixth Street Growth team partners with companies and management teams to provide bespoke, accretive financing solutions that often fall between traditional growth equity and commercial debt. Sixth Street has invested over $4 billion in more than 40 companies in its growth investing strategy since inception. Select current and past representative Sixth Street Growth investments include Airbnb, AvidXchange, AvePoint, Gainsight, and MDLive.

Bloomreach Acquires Exponea, Secures $150M Investment to Power E-Commerce SaaS Expansion

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