Berlin, 17 July 2012. Award-winning mysportgroup raised €13.5m in its Series B financing round led by international investors Nauta Capital from Barcelona, Luxembourg based Cipio Partners and supported by previous investors XAnge Private Equity, IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft and Grazia Equity. These funds will enable the company to further accelerate its growth strategy and set the basis for a leading market position in the online sports and outdoor segment.
The hybrid market strategy in form of the sports shopping club mysportbrands and the premium online shop mysportworld is an important factor in the success story of mysportgroup and its strong development. In its second year, the company was able to boost its revenue by more than 800%. To provide a profound basis for future growth, the company has recently launched its own logistics hub of 10,000m² in Southern Berlin.
“Our clear ambition is to shape the sports e-commerce market through business model innovations and world class customer experience. I am very proud of what the collective mysportgroup team has accomplished so far and we are keen to continue with some serious pace.”
– Albert Schwarzmeier, founder of mysportgroup
“We are looking forward to work with such strong investors like Nauta Capital and Cipio Partners, who support our striving to new markets with their expertise and resources”
– Erik Pfannmöller, founder of mysportgroup
“Our initial investment in mysportgroup provided liquidity to some Business Angels that helped to start the company and build it into the German category leader. We are very glad to be on board, provide fresh funds to foster the future growth and help mysportgroup mature further.”
– Werner Dreesbach, Cipio Partners
“mysportgroup has an outstanding team and is growing with impressive speed. The sports online segment offers a huge market potential to make mysportgroup to a leading European player. We are thrilled to be part of the next phase of the company’s journey and excited about their expansion into new countries in the near future!”
– Javier Rubió, Partner at Nauta Capital
Corporate Finance Partners – now ACXIT Capital Partners – acted as the exclusive financial advisor to mysportgroup in this transaction.
Nauta Capital, a leading venture capital firm, manages three funds with $230m under management and has offices in Barcelona and Boston. Nauta invests from $1m to $10m per company, mainly in three technology verticals: wireless/mobility, enterprise SW/Security, and ecommerce/internet. Nauta targets companies for investment in very early stage (Seed Capital) up to more advanced stages of development (Series A and B). Nauta actively invests in Western Europe and the US. (www.nautacapital.com)
Cipio Partners is a leading investment management and advisory firm in the Secondary Directs market. Cipio Partners manages an international portfolio of growth investments from offices in Luxembourg, Munich and San Jose, CA. The firm advises Cipio Partners Fund VI S.C.S., SICAR and other investment vehicles.
(www.cipiopartners.com)
Since foundation of the company in early 2010 by Albert Schwarzmeier and Erik Pfannmöller, mysportgroup offers sport and outdoor apparel and equipment “by athletes for athletes”. Today, mysportgroup takes advantage of a hybrid market strategy based on two distinct platforms featuring over 300 leading sport brands.
Mysportbrands lists high-quality sport items over a limited time period with discounts up to 70% and is already the number one shopping club in the sport e-commerce segment.
In addition, customers have the opportunity to benefit from a broad range of premium sport products at mysportworld. This platform offers the longest return period in the sports segment with 111 days and fast shipping within 24 hours free of charge. Besides its strong emphasis on e-commerce, customers can also enjoy professional advice and a selection of top-brands in the mysportworld flagship store in Berlin. The passion for high quality sport products is not only lived by its 115 employees, but also shared by an increasing number of professional athletes of diverse disciplines, such as Sven Ottke, Paul Biederman and Jens Weißflog who value the great variety of high quality sports equipment. (www.mysportgroup.de)
About ACXIT
ACXIT Capital Partners is a leading independent corporate finance and investment advisory firm for mid-market clients and entrepreneurs in Europe and beyond. Since 1998, ACXIT offers its clients comprehensive corporate finance advisory services including M&A and capital markets advisory as well as restructuring, equity/debt and strategic advisory. As an independent, privately owned firm we maintain offices and representations in Frankfurt, Berlin, Munich, Leipzig, Zurich, Hong Kong and New York, as well as strong alliances in France, China and India. (www.acxit.com)
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