CommerceHub Acquires Cadeera, Rebrands as Rithum
* I wasn't familiar with Cadeera but the company appears to power visual AI discovery solutions for retailers. When the company raised seed funding it seemed to focus on home decor. Think of it like AI-guided search and discovery based on your preferences.
* It seems more of an acqui-hire of a few key talented employees overall, based on the size of the company.
* I would expect that this fits into Rithum's strategy of helping retailers surface the right assortment, not just supply the right assortment. Which seems like a logical extension of the brand and could be a good growth avenue for them. There is somewhat a glut of "search/discovery/personalization" companies however, and so another offering will have to be very targeted.
* In other news, I can't say that I'm a fan of the new name. I understand it's part of the PE playbook, but 25 years of brand equity down the drain for what?
You had previously the best stock ticker symbol on the planet - ECOM (when ChannelAdvisor was public), and an extremely well-known name in CommerceHub (though more American-focused) for connecting retailers and brands.
No one cares what I think though about company names - ultimately its irrelevant 🤣 I find renaming makes it harder to understand someone than easier. In these types of situations I usually end up saying something like:
"Rithum." Who? "The old CommerceHub and ChannelAdvisor".
Just look at how long it's been since there has been an IRCE event, yet that's still what people call it. Does anyone actually call the Tappan Zee bridge the Mario Cuomo bridge? 😎
* PE is definitely active in the software market in different places. Over the past several years, one of the best examples was a company like Syndigo who made many acquisitions and then exited/recapitalized by Summit Partners, leading to some executive exits there.
* It's not lost on me that Logicbroker a year after its K1 investment/exit has seen former Syndigo executives take the helm. 👀
* It appears that Rithum (nee' CommerceHub) is on that same path, funded by Insight Partners. -> Acquire, combine, acquire, combine, acquire, combine, and then sell, sell, sell. 💰
Look, I don't hate the game -- it's all part of it, and especially in the past 10-12 years, there were too many companies funded, so it's natural that there will be a greater period of consolidation coming.
The same type of consolidation is constantly happening in the agency space and with budgets squeezed, I expect this type of activity to continue.
