RELEX Solutions
Acquired by Blackstone Growth and TCV 2024
"It has been a pleasure to work alongside Summit. As our partner, Summit is current on the details of our business – and just a call away to offer a second opinion on a difficult challenge or provide an introduction to a prospective customer."
Employees worldwide, growing from 160+ at the time of Summit’s initial investment*
Increase in revenues*
Offices around the world, growing from 8 at the time of Summit’s initial investment*
Customers, growing from 100 at the time of Summit’s initial investment*
Employees worldwide, growing from 160+ at the time of Summit’s initial investment*
Increase in revenues*
Offices around the world, growing from 8 at the time of Summit’s initial investment*
Customers, growing from 100 at the time of Summit’s initial investment*
RELEX was founded in 2005 by Mikko Kärkkäinen, Johanna Småros and Michael Falck, three friends who met at the Helsinki University of Technology where they studied supply chain, logistics and industrial engineering. Putting this deep subject matter expertise into practice, the team formed RELEX with a vision to offer a more unified and automated approach to managing retail supply chains. With its smooth implementation and demonstrated rapid return on investment for its customers, RELEX had won over many of Europe’s largest retailers. In 2015, the founders sought an experienced global partner to help accelerate international growth and technology development.
How Summit Partners Helped
- Led a €20 million minority investment in 2015 as RELEX’s first institutional investor and completed a follow-on in 2017
- Helped accelerate international expansion, including establishing a North American office
- Facilitated introductions to new customers across Europe and North America, including RELEX’s first U.S. customer
- Worked closely with management to successfully transition to a recurring SaaS business model
- Performed competitive, market and customer analysis with a focus on price optimization and developing a modular product offering
- Helped strengthen RELEX’s financial reporting systems and infrastructure
- Identified potential M&A targets and provided key support for the execution and integration of RELEX’s acquisitions of Galleria-RTS in 2016 and Forecast Solutions in 2018
- Assisted in recruiting a VP of Sales EMEA and VP of Sales North America
Fueled by strong customer demand, RELEX successfully expanded its customer impact and geographic presence. Today, the company operates offices across Europe, North America and Asia and has established channel partnerships in Australia and Africa. Since Summit’s initial investment in 2015, RELEX has continued to innovate and offers unified retail planning solutions that leverage core data processing, machine learning, and AI capabilities to help customers improve forecasting and replenishment, offer localized assortments and optimize workforce planning. RELEX is trusted by leading brands across the globe including Coop Denmark, Franprix, MediaMarkt, Morrisons, PartyCity, Rossmann and WHSmith. The company has raised more than $700 million in additional capital over the course of the last nine years.
* Statistics referenced herein reflect Summit’s investment from 2015 through December 31, 2023
The Portfolio Company Executive quoted herein did not receive compensation for any statements regarding Summit Partners. However, since RELEX Solutions is a current portfolio company of Summit, this individual did receive general compensation in connection with his employment by the company. In addition, this individual is an investor in a Summit fund and may have conflicts arising from his role with RELEX Solutions due to the company’s relationship with Summit.
The content herein reflects the views of Summit Partners and is intended for executives and operators considering partnering with Summit Partners. For a complete list of Summit Partners portfolio companies, please click here.
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