Puratos confirms deal for French start-up Rapidle, expanding European online presence
pic: Puratos
Global chocolate and bakery ingredients supplier Puratos has confirmed a deal to acquire French start-up Rapidle, specialising in e-commerce solutions, writes Neill Barston.
The move comes four years after the Belgian-headquartered business bought Bakeronline, focused on the digital transformation of craftsmen, which enhanced its online capabilities.
As the company noted, its latest acquisition allows it to support the digital transformation of its customers even more effectively and strengthen its offer in France.
According to Puratos, the objective is to merge the two start-ups, Bakeronline and Rapidle, to meet the growing demand from local shops in terms of digitisation and visibility to increase their turnover, and also develop the French market for Bakeronline.
The common development objective of Rapidle, Bakeronline and Puratos is to increase the amount of artisans in France with a personalised webshop from 750 to 5000 in the next 3 years.
“The merger of Bakeronline with Rapidle reinforces the Puratos Group’s promise to encourage and support bakery, patisserie and chocolate professionals in their digital transformation. We want to be the technological partner of their choice in our industry thanks to innovative, effective and simple solutions,” says Sophie Blum, Chief Marketing & Channels Officer of Puratos.
Rapidle, a French company founded in 2015 by Steeve Broutin and Yann Browaeys has become the French market leader in Food&Collect solutions. Like Bakeronline, Rapidle supports local artisans in their digitalisation by providing them with personalized e-commerce solutions.
“France has many dynamic artisans. Through the combined efforts of Rapidle, Bakeronline and Puratos, we will enable them to focus on product creation and innovation while growing their business. We want to be vectors of innovation,” analyzes Maxim Sergeant, founder and CEO of Bakeronline.
“As a shareholder and co-founder of Rapidle, I am very pleased with this acquisition by Puratos, which will allow Rapidle to continue to develop and innovate for the benefit of current and future customers”, says Steeve Broutin, co-founder of Rapidle.
Digital challenges
The digitization of local shops has become a major challenge for the development of artisans. Today, 100%* of companies are convinced that it is essential to be present online. The global pandemic has caused a real awareness among artisans of the importance of their rapid digital transformation and has accelerated their need for digitalization. But this need to digitize has also confronted them with many obstacles: budgetary, technical and availability. While the investment in time devoted to digitization strongly conditions its success and the development of turnover.
