German tech startup Contentful raises $175 million led by Tiger Global, pushing its valuation to $3.3 billion

Back in 2019, we wrote about 50 tech startups with the most chance of becoming unicorns. One of the startups on the list is Contentful, Berlin, Germany tech startup that helps developers and builders create better digital experiences across websites, mobile apps, and digital displays. Fast forward two years later, our prediction turned to be true.

Today, Contentful announced it raised $175 million in a funding round led by investment giant Tiger Global, with participation from Base10 Advancement Initiative and other investors. The latest round brings the company’s total valuation to $3 billion, making Contentful a member of the highly-coveted unicorn startup club. Contentful will use the fresh capital to expand its global footprint in marketing and sales along with investing in its platform.

Founded in 2012 by European tech entrepreneurs Sascha Konietzke and Paolo Negri, Contentful helps 30% of the Fortune 500 and thousands of brands around the world create and manage digital experiences for their customers across any channel.

Unlike the traditional CMS solutions, Contentful enables greater speed and also unifies content in a single hub, structures it for use in any digital channel, and integrates seamlessly with hundreds of other tools through open APIs. The contentful platform is used by global giants like Spotify, Electronic Arts, WeWork, Chanel, Bang & Olufsen, Shiseido, Shopify, BP, and many others.

“We are living in a digital-first era where content makes digital experiences come alive. It is the way the best companies create conversations across all of the devices that surround their customers,” said Steve Sloan, CEO of Contentful. “This latest round of financing enables us to accelerate our pace of investment in our team and technology and supports our growing ecosystem of customers and partners to build on our platform and create the best content experiences for today’s consumer.”

Enabled by emerging technology and accelerated in a post-pandemic world, 58% of all customer interactions around the world, according to McKinsey Consulting, are happening in digital environments. The companies that recognize and invest in the capabilities and technology required to shift toward digital-first engagement will be in a much better position to succeed. Leading brands such as Shopify, Staples, Atlassian, Electronic Arts, Chanel, Roche, Vodafone and over 30% of the Fortune 500 rely on the Contentful platform.

“When we look at where winning brands are making changes for the modern consumer, their investment in the digital experience starts with content,” said John Curtius, partner at Tiger Global. “The opportunity to join Contentful in redefining the way content is used in every modern digital experience was extremely exciting for us. We believe Contentful is well-positioned to become the platform of choice for brands to deliver the experience across channels that consumers want and expect.”

Meanwhile, the Series F funding round follows Contentful’s plan to explore a listing in the United States that could value it at nearly $5 billion, according to a May report from Reuters. If it goes ahead with the plan, Contentful — led by former Microsoft Corp and Amazon executive Steve Sloan — would join a host of companies from outside the United States seeking to cash in on the strong appetite for new listings in U.S. capital markets.