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, a company focused on e-commerce strategies for major retailers and consumer brands, it has raised $225 million in a Series D funding round that included,, , and .

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The new funding takes the New York-based company to unicorn status with a valuation of $1.7 billion, and a total funding of $365 million. That included a led by SoftBank last November, according to Crunchbase data.

Founded in 2000, the company intends to use the cash infusion to strengthen its balance sheet, , chief strategy officer and U.S. general manager at VTEX told Crunchbase News. That includes making acquisitions, hiring additional talent, investing in customer success, innovating its platform, and accelerating growth in the U.S., Europe and Asia-Pacific markets.

鈥淲e have been profitable for the past 10 years, but the new funding allows us to invest in the product,鈥� Shah said. 鈥淚n addition, this is an attractive market for others to enter, so we want to keep our leadership position.鈥�

The online sales market in the U.S. is poised to be valued at approximately $600 billion, and the shift in trends toward online commerce is driven by more consumers pushing for that convenience, he added.

VTEX, which can enable a brand to be online in as little as 30 days, has seen 98 percent growth in platform adoption during the pandemic and now works with more than 3,000 online storefronts for global brands, including , and . It expects to close 2020 with a 114 percent increase year over year.

As such, VTEX is focused on hiring people who used to run online businesses to act as guides for its customers. The company already has 900 employees and looks to end the year with 1,000, building out its team in the U.K., France, Germany and parts of Asia Pacific, Shah said.

鈥淲e want to make sure the people on our team are as knowledgeable as our customers,鈥� he added. 鈥淭he biggest change in tech is that the customer doesn鈥檛 want to buy software, they want to buy knowledge and expertise. Software is the vehicle.鈥�

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