Flow scores $37M Series B led by American Express to expand cross-border e-commerce solution for brands and retailers

Statista predicts that total global e-commerce sales will reach $6.5 trillion by 2023, with cross-border purchases projected to account for 22 percent of total e-commerce worldwide. Yet brands and retailers still struggle to offer customers a shopping experience that feels local to each country. Multi-currency pricing, accurately calculated taxes and duties, local payment methods, direct international shipping options and more are necessities to improving the international customer experience and hence boosting international sales. Enter Flow, a tech startup that provides cross-border e-commerce solution for brands and retailers. Flow’s platform provides its clients with the control and flexibility needed to simply create localized e-commerce experiences.

Today, Flow announced it has secured $37M in Series B funding to expand its product offerings and development, invest in current customers and customer acquisition, increase the company’s staffing, and to expand its footprint in the U.S. and Europe. The round was led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA), American Express Ventures, and Latitude Ventures.

Founded in 2015 by Michael Bryzek and Rob Keve, Flow’s platform enables merchants to simply configure their cross-border supply-chain requirements and immediately fulfill their overseas demand. Flow can be used by e-commerce companies of any size and both as a complete, end-to-end solution or as a modular unbundled product. Using the Flow platform the experiencing of buying & selling internationally is as easy as domestic for both merchants and consumers.

Flow has become a high profile business within the wider tech industry, and has received broad recognition for their cutting-edge approach including winning several awards such as CNBC Upstart 100, The Lead.co Leading 100, and ReMode Best Cross-Border Solution. Additionally, Flow’s co-founders, CEO Rob Keve and CTO Mike Bryzek, were named 2019 Entrepreneurs of the Year by Ernst & Young (EY).

“We have seen strong growth in consumers wanting to purchase from brands outside their domestic market and yet cross-border shopping remains as difficult and complex as ever. Flow is able to simply solve both brands’ and consumers’ challenges for cross-border e-commerce with our innovative AI-driven SaaS platform and a flexible microservices approach,” said Rob Keve, CEO of Flow, a company he co-founded jointly with Mike Bryzek. “NEA, Amex Ventures and Latitude Ventures’ collective experience in retail technology and payments make them ideal partners for our mission in global commerce. Their combined network, credibility and expertise together with Bain Capital Ventures, will greatly assist our expansion.”

“Cross-border shopping is a rapidly growing area of e-commerce, and more companies are investing in their cross-border strategy to capture that international demand,” said Liza Landsman, Venture Partner at NEA and former President of Jet.com. “Flow is a premier vendor in this space, and their platform delivers strategic advantages for brands and retailers entering or expanding into international markets. Our team is excited to support Flow’s rapid growth.”

“As retail continues to evolve and more customers demand their goods from other countries, brands are recognizing the international opportunity for selling cross-border,” said Lindsay Fitzgerald, Managing Director at American Express Ventures. “Flow’s platform helps retailers open up new sales opportunities and cater to a wider array of customers. Amex Ventures is pleased to support Flow in its future growth.”

“Consumers all over the globe demand more efficiency and better access to products than ever before,” said Julian Rowe, partner at Latitude Ventures. “Flow brings the only comprehensive solution to the retail landscape that dramatically improves the way e-commerce companies sell cross-border. We can’t think of a better partner to invest in and we’re very excited about Flow’s plans for the future, including building their presence with European retailers.”

Client growth has increased to 200 percent year-over-year as brands have sought out Flow to accelerate their international sales. The company’s client base includes traditional brands such as MZ Wallace and Charles & Colvard, digitally native brands such as MVMT Watches, M. Gemi, and Carbon38 and omnichannel retailers and marketplaces such as Stadium Goods and Goop.