12 August, 2014

www.internetretailer.com: B2B technology seller Centric Software raises $24 million

The company will use the money to help it expand in Asia, including China.

Centric Software Inc., whose software helps apparel brands and manufacturers source materials used in producing clothes and other items, has raised $24 million to fund expansion in Asia, including China.

Fung Capital and Silver Lake Waterman led the Series D funding round, which also included previous investors Oak Investment Partners and Masthead Partners. Fung Capital is the investment arm of the Hong Kong-based Fung family. Its holdings include Li & Fung Ltd., which sources and distributes consumer product goods.

Centric Software’s product lifecycle management software enables clients to better manage their production and marketing of products or, in the case of retailers, their merchandising and marketing of finished products. The company’s technology also supports the production of business-to-business digital catalogs that display products with accurate, up-to-date information that companies present to their business customers online, and sometimes via sales reps using iPads.

Earlier this month, Centric Software opened an office in Shanghai, the fifth overseas office for the California-based firm. The other offices are in Europe.

Centric says it already works with such China-based companies as The Sak, “which designs and manufactures texture-rich handbags, footwear, and accessories,” and Cache Cache China, “which offers modern, fashionable and accessible women’s ready-to-wear apparel.”

“Looking at the world market, China represents one of the biggest opportunities in the apparel and consumer products market, with both brands and retailers,” says Chris Groves, Centric’s president and CEO. “Centric has a tremendous amount to offer these companies as they grow and expand internationally. The time is now for [product lifecycle management] adoption, and specifically for adoption of flexible, configurable software like the Centric 8 PLM solution.”

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