Danish startup Clerk.io expands rapidly throughout Europe

Clerk.io, a Danish SaaS startup that helps online shops increase sales and retention, is expanding rapidly throughout Europe. The software company has already established itself in Europe, primarily in the UK, the Netherlands and Italy, but wants to expand to Germany and France as well.

Clerk.io helps ecommerce retailers with their sales, by giving their customers a personalized shopping experience throughout the website. It offers personalized product recommendations, on-site search, email personalization and automated customer segmentation.

The company was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Copenhagen. Last year, it expanded its presence to more European countries, such as the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Italy, but this year it wants to move further and strengthen their position in countries where it’s already offering their solution.

First: Scandinavia and the Netherlands

The first step of its European expansion consists of the Scandinavian and Dutch markets, where Clerk.io already has a presence. ” These markets have been a natural starting point for our expansion, because the ecommerce industry is strongly developed here and because they are so much like the Danish market in terms of culture and business approach. These markets are our home turf, so to speak”, comments CEO and founder Hans-Kristian Bjerregaard.

‘Important to have a local presence’

The company has grown with 300 percent over the last year and achieved this organically, so with no investors. It’s looking to open a second office before the end of this year and the location would be in London. “The second step of our expansion throughout Europe is focused on the three largest ecommerce markets in Europe, Germany, France and the UK, where we already have a customer portfolio”, Bjerregaard explains. “We believe that we have something new and something of substance to offer ecommerce businesses in these markets. However, to enter markets such as these in the right way, we also believe that it is important to have a local presence – boots on the ground, so to speak. Every market in Europe has its own culture and approach in connection to business and ecommerce and we want to accommodate that. This is why we are planning to open a second office in London.”

Merging the best of both cultures

The Danish company has also planned its expansion for next year. It wants to further consolidate its presence in the three markets mentioned above. This entails opening a third office in either Berlin or Paris in 2017. “When opening these local offices, we will aim to merge the best of both cultures. We want to retain some of the ethics and approaches from the Danish working culture and mix them with the best trades of the UK/German/French culture to create a perfect and unique approach, where the business culture of Clerk.io (high-fives, an informal tone, flat hierarchy, etc.) remains, but in a way that best suits the given market.”