• Velory

  Led · Seed · Apr 2015

  Universal Avenue provides a platform of digital solutions that digitalizes small and medium-sized businesses and is used by over 25,000 businesses. Led by founder and CEO Johan Lilja, the company focuses on scaling its product and technical platform. It secured an additional US$6m in funding via a stock convertible bond and had a previously acquired US$1m bond converted. Universal Avenue acquired digital agency Varvet to scale up its product team and boost investments in its technical platform. As part of the acquisition, Varvet partner Carl-Johan Kihlbom will join Universal Avenue’s board of directors. Varvet, founded in 2008, has built customized digital solutions for clients including Electronic Arts and Hemnet. Universal Avenue operates a three-sided, on-demand sales marketplace connecting on-the-ground salespeople (brand ambassadors), B2B online/digital companies (often SaaS) seeking to test or expand markets, and local businesses or venues that buy digital services. The platform on-boards salespeople for each specific client and matches the right level of salesperson to each brand, enabling face-to-face B2B outreach without requiring a local office or agency. Because users typically pay only when customers are acquired, Universal Avenue's model shifts a significant amount of expansion risk onto the company and its commission-based sales force. The startup says it can replicate rollouts efficiently after initial trials, positioning the service as a tool to help other startups scale into new markets quickly. Universal Avenue plans to use its latest funding to continue growth in the U.K. and expand into the U.S. in the second half of the year, and currently operates in the U.K., Spain, Greece, Sweden, Norway and Finland. Customers include Spotify Business, DripApp and Shopify, and the company has raised a total of $17 million to date following its recent $10 million Series A. Universal Avenue is a Sales-as-a-Service platform that gives businesses on-demand access to direct sales teams in any location worldwide. Led by CEO and co‑founder Johan Lilja, the company operates via Brand Ambassadors who join as freelancers and choose when, where and which brands to represent, earning money on sales they close. Universal Avenue has local offices and teams in the UK and Greece and is based in Stockholm, Sweden. The company plans to use new funding for product growth, sales and marketing, and expansion of its European and global reach. The article reports a $5M venture capital raise led by Northzone with participation from Salesforce Ventures and existing investor MOOR. Universal Avenue operates an on-demand workforce of trained freelance brand ambassadors who are certified via the company’s mobile app to pitch and close sales for client brands. The platform provides training, certification tests, lead delivery (ambassadors can also use their own leads), and real-time feedback from the field that can be used for market research. It targets businesses where ambassadors can easily reach decision makers, such as hotels, restaurants, cafes, stores, beauty shops, tour operators and museums. Universal Avenue is currently active in Sweden and Greece, with plans to launch in the U.K. later this year and then expand to additional European countries and North America, ultimately aiming for a global workforce. Customers mentioned include Spotify Business (Sweden only) and payments provider iZettle. The company’s commercial model charges brands roughly half of year-one revenues from every sale; ambassadors receive half of that fee when they close a sale directly, or 25% when the company’s in-house team closes the deal.

No current team members are available.