We are today delighted to announce that Molten Ventures has led a $26m Series A funding round in &Open, a gifting platform that helps companies to send meaningful gifts at scale.
&Open was founded in 2017 by Ciara Flood, Jonathan Legge and Mark Legge to fix corporate gifting by delivering better gifts at scale. Active in 120+ countries, &Open helps brands curate high-quality, design-led, and responsibly-sourced gifts for customers around the world. As companies strive to keep employees, customers, and partners engaged amidst competing priorities, a global pandemic, the Great Resignation, and the proliferation of hybrid and remote work, &Open has experienced a period of exponential growth, increasing Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) by over 376% and growing new clients by 270% in the last year alone.
The company has already grown its team to 90+ with employees across Ireland, the U.K, and the U.S., and plans to open an office in New York City in the next year. This new capital will help &Open expand its reach as a scalable consumer-grade enterprise platform, serving leading brands such as Airbnb, Peloton, Spotify, Hopin, Intercom, Wayflyer, and Better-Up. The funding will also enable &Open to expand to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through its latest offering, &Open On-Demand, a platform designed to make better gifting more accessible.
“All companies gift—be it their employees, customers, prospects, or partners. Companies gift because people power businesses and those relationships need to be nurtured. Today, more than ever, loyalty matters,” said Jonathan Legge, co-founder and CEO of &Open.“&Open is where some of the world’s best brands come to build loyalty. With the support of our investors, we are excited to launch On-Demand to expand our reach and accelerate our growth as we fix corporate gifting and craft an operation that is rapidly becoming part of the solution.”
“Now, more than ever, companies are looking for ways to retain employees and foster real connections with customers and partners,” said Nicola McClafferty, partner at Molten Ventures. “Working with some of the largest global businesses and brands, &Open has proven that gifting, when done right, is an incredibly powerful tool to increase brand loyalty and build advocacy. We’ve been highly impressed with how the team have built out a global platform that makes carefully crafted, sustainably-sourced and beautiful gifts more accessible to people and companies across the globe. Jonathan, Ciara, Mark, and the team approach the business in the same way they do gifting — with immense thoughtfulness, attention to detail, and a focus on how to make a difference. We are excited to be supporting &Open as it launches On-Demand and continues to build on its existing success.”