What a year it has been! With COVID still lingering like an unwelcome houseguest, every CPG brand has the global supply chain high on its list of concerns as protecting margins becomes increasingly difficult. At Vividly, we are closing out 2021 with a very positive outlook and strong momentum. Here we share some of the major successes our company and employees have achieved during the pandemic.
We started this year as a group of five, bootstrapping our business and charting a way forward through uncertain times. We now end the year with over 20 new customers, 30 additional employees, and a clear vision for the year to come.
Most importantly, we could not have realized these outcomes without the hard work and tenacity of our team and the engagement, kindness, and patience of our customers.
The Highlights:
- Closed a $6.6MM Series Seed. Led by Costanoa Ventures and joined by Torch Capital, including a number of angel investors such as Fivestars CTO Matt Doka, Hu’s Kitchen CEO Mark Ramadan, and former Justin’s & One Bar CEO, Peter Burns.
- Grew from 16 to over 40 brands. Our customers are cutting-edge innovators and trendsetters—the future of CPG.
- Hired the best team ever. We septupled our team from five to 35 full-time employees! Normally, early-stage startups only call out big executive hires, but we can confidently say that every team member we’ve hired represents a fantastic addition to the Vividly family. We’re building a family of winners we can’t wait for you to meet.
- Met our team members IRL. Our company offsite on a ranch in Granby, Colorado was a grand success that encompassed cooperation exercises, 2022 roadmap planning, great conversations over tasty meals, and high-altitude karaoke.
New Product Capabilities:
We have made hundreds if not thousands of improvements to the software over the last year. Here are some of the heavy hitters:
- Expanded Deduction Scanning Library (Free Trial Available) - We now offer over 20 backup sources, and the list keeps growing (because our customers are the best)! Stop sifting through PDF pages of deductions—let our technology do the work for you!
- Like Promotions - When creating a promotion, your workflow will be fed all the results of past promotions that are similar to what you’re building. Plan faster, plan smarter.
- Budgeting - Quickly compare budget, latest estimate (LE), and actuals for revenue and trade spend with real-time updates to LE by customer, product group, and even salesperson.
- Forecasting - Utilize your Point of Sale data to generate a weekly, by item, by retailer base volume plan that ties into your promotional plans.
- Advanced Duplication - Ever wish you could take an entire promo calendar and just copy it into another year? What about taking that calendar and copying it to another retailer with a very similar structure? Stop wishing and sign up!
- Vividly University - Over 90 studio-recorded training videos for all sections of the software. While we do have a sub-two-minute response time within our customer support app, you’ve also got all the content you need to self-serve.
Curious about how any of these capabilities can help you as an organization? Book a demo with us today!
Peering into 2022:
First off, We’re hiring!!! From a product perspective, we’ll be laser-focused on our Deduction Reconciliation Module and Sales Forecasting tool. The added headcount will also allow us to simultaneously upgrade the core product at a rate far greater than in previous years. Company culture will also remain a top priority, ensuring that we keep that small business/startup feel, no matter how much we grow.
From our families to yours, Happy New Year!
