Storyblok raises $8.5 million Series A to fund international expansion and product development

Round led by Mubadala Capital will enable headless CMS company to open hubs to expand service in DACH, the UK and the Republic of Ireland

London, UK; 4th February 2021: Storyblok, a headless CMS for developers and marketers to deliver content experiences on any digital platform, has raised an $8.5 million Series A.

The investment was led by Mubadala Capital, which counts TIER Mobility and Cazoo among its portfolio, and existing Storyblok investors firstminute capital and 3VC.

Storyblok intends to use the funding to expand its platform by introducing new features including a new custom design system for third parties, agency partner listing, geo location filtering and typed GraphQL support. It also intends to grow its international team and begin its global expansion with sales offices set to open in Germany and the Republic of Ireland in the coming months.

The Austria-founded company’s platform is the world’s first headless CMS built for both developers and business users. Its clients include large enterprises such as Pizza Hut, Adidas, UPC, Greggs, Decathlon and tens of thousands of solo developers. It is currently powering more than 60,000 projects across 130 countries and recorded a six-fold increase in enterprise client growth in 2020.

In contrast to other headless CMS solutions which are flexible for developers but can be difficult for editors to use due to limitations visualising content changes, Storyblok’s CMS provides highly customizable content blocks and visual editing tools. It is the first headless CMS to integrate these features directly into a modern headless architecture.

Dominik Angerer, Co-Founder and CEO of Storyblok, said: “The marketing world is in a state of transition. Fragmented channels and rapidly changing consumer behaviour as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic have made it much more challenging to efficiently and quickly keep brand messaging consistent across multiple platforms. On paper headless CMS technology solves a lot of these problems, but in practice most platforms are only geared towards developers, which makes them incredibly difficult for non-technical people to use. Storyblok’s solution marries the needs of both editors and developers, which has given us a unique position in the market and resulted in rapid growth."

“We’re delighted to have the support of Mubadala Capital as we take the next big step on our journey with international expansion and a revamp of our platform. Germany and the Republic of Ireland both have vibrant tech scenes and there is a huge demand for marketing technology.”

Fatou Bintou Sagnang, Director at Mubadala Capital - Ventures, who also joins the board of Storyblok, said: "In a vast but relatively homogenous market, Storyblok has impressed us with a truly differentiated product that resonates with small and large enterprises. The organic traction is proof of the customer love from both developers and marketers. We are thrilled to partner with Dominik and Alex and their team on their mission to build a global CMS market-leader.”

Storyblok recently launched its eCommerce integration offering, teaming up with the leading eCommerce platforms to give customers fast and easily maintainable webshop content experiences. Integration for leading eCommerce solutions includes BigCommerce, commercetools, Shopify Plus, and Shopware.

About Storyblok

Storyblok was founded by developers Dominik Angerer and Alexander Feiglstorfer in 2017 to build the world’s first headless CMS that works for both developers and business users.

It is a headless CMS that enables developers and marketers to deliver powerful content experiences on any digital platform, one block at a time. Developers create flexible components that are independently managed by content teams using a visual editor and customizable workflow. Published content is available through an API, so changes are made once and will appear everywhere: websites, mobile, IoT, AR/VR, and beyond. Leading brands such as Adidas, Pizza Hut, and UPC use Storyblok to manage and share their content with the world.

Storyblok is backed by Mubadala Capital, firstminute and 3VC. It is currently hiring for multiple positions across the world.

For more information, visit https://www.storyblok.com.

About Mubadala Investment Company

Mubadala Investment Company is a sovereign investor managing a global portfolio, aimed at generating sustainable financial returns for its shareholders. Mubadala’s US $229 billion portfolio spans five continents with interests in multiple sectors. Mubadala Capital was established in 2011 as the financial investment arm of Mubadala. The group invests across the capital structure in both public and private securities. Mubadala Capital’s venture capital team’s mission is to partner early with visionary founders to build enduring technology companies and support them by bringing to bear Mubadala’s scale, resources and capital. The team oversees strategies that focus on making investments in early stage and early growth stage companies across the US, Europe and MENA regions from its offices in San Francisco, London and Abu Dhabi.

About firstminute capital

firstminute is a $211m early-stage venture fund investing across Europe and the U.S. at the seed stage. It counts 70 founders of billion-dollar businesses as investors, 16 founders of $10 billion+ “decacorn” technology businesses and a number of board members and CEOs from large technology companies. Institutional investors include RIT Capital Partners (previously backed leading U.S. funds, including Sequoia, Benchmark, Thrive and Iconiq), the Chinese technology giant Tencent, FMCG conglomerate Henkel, London-based venture fund Atomico and four Californian multi-stage firms. Team of 18 based in London, Stockholm and Berlin. https://firstminute.capital/

About 3VC

3VC is a Vienna-based venture capital fund that invests in a carefully handpicked group of European technology startups with global ambition. From seed to growth, 3VC’s entrepreneurial team provides tireless support and access to an international co-investment network of VC partners. 3VC’s portfolio includes category defining companies like Assaia, Authenteq, Kaia Health, Lokalise, PicsArt, and Storyblok. https://three.vc/

About Founders Factory

Founders Factory powers founders to go further, faster. As the world’s leading startup studio and accelerator program, the Founders Factory team validates ideas, builds founding teams, finds first customers, and invests directly in startups across multiple disciplines. Started by Brent Hoberman, Henry Lane Fox, and George Northcott. Founders Factory has received investment from leading corporates across four hubs in New York, London, Paris, and Johannesburg: Johnson & Johnson Innovation - JJDC, Inc. (New York); Marks & Spencer, L'Oréal, easyJet, Guardian Media Group, Aviva, Holtzbrinck, CSC and Reckitt Benckiser (London); Aviva France (Paris); and Standard Bank and Netcare (Johannesburg). Founders Factory has built over 40 and invested in over 100 startups to date and secured over 200 commercial pilots for its startups with 33% of those pilots resulting in enterprise contracts and direct investments. Founders Factory peers voted it as Hottest Startup Accelerator and Early Stage Investor at The Europas 2018 and 2019. https://foundersfactory.com/