You only have a minute? Here are 3 key takeaways from the article:
• American-Bulgarian cloud storage startup LucidLink raises $75 million in Series C funding, in what was the largest funding round for Bulgaria in 2023 and one of the largest in CEE.
• The round is led by an American investment company Capital Park Brightonwith large existing investors, including Big title, Core Businesses, And Adobe Ventures
• The new capital will accelerate LucidLink’s product and engineering development, customer acquisition efforts and expansion into new verticals and geographies.
Founded in 2016 by entrepreneurs George Dochev And Peter ThompsonLucidLink provides provides its users with fast and secure remote access to large files and data sets that function like a local disk.
The company’s system is specifically designed for the modern IT environment, eliminating the need to download or sync files by allowing users to stream data directly from the cloud, while solving one of the biggest problems of creative industries who work with complex files and files. applications across hybrid and remote employee bases.
According to Dochev, LucidLink will now use the latest funding to accelerate the development and updates of its products.
“With this Series C investment, LucidLink will accelerate its most ambitious product updates in the company’s history to expand our position as a technology leader, unlock new customer use cases and create more personalized product experiences that will enable creative professionals to work more efficiently. said George Dochev, CTO and co-founder of LucidLink.
According to the company, over the past two years, despite a challenging environment, LucidLink has seen remarkable growth, including a nearly 5x increase in annual recurring revenue (ARR) and a more than 4x increase in users. on its platform. With previous rounds, the company’s total funding has so far reached a whopping $115 million.
As CEO and co-founder Peter Thompson points out, existing collaboration and storage solutions are not designed for the new reality of the hybrid workplace. LucidLink is therefore quickly becoming the essential solution for companies seeking to sustain their activities.
“Our customers are achieving 5x productivity gains on previously impossible workflows, and we’re excited to see how they continue to unlock new possibilities as we help accelerate the future of collaborative work,” said Thompson in a press release.
Significant need for real-time collaboration in the cloud
For investors, LucidLink’s solution has become “indispensable for hybrid and remote creative professionals”.
“LucidLink recognized a substantial need for real-time collaboration in the cloud, and their solution has quickly become indispensable for hybrid and remote creative professionals, highlighted by its strong recent growth and diverse customer base of innovative companies from top line,” said Mike Gregoire and Sam. Kentor, partner at Brighton Park Capital, adding that “the company is well positioned to continue its momentum.”
With headquarters in San Francisco for its sales, marketing and founding teams, LucidLink also has an R&D team based in Bulgaria, consisting of more than 60 people.
For BrightCap Ventures, an early investor and backer of LucidLink, the company is another great example of a successful global startup built by local talent.
“We were an early investor and strongly believe in LucidLink’s technology, leadership and enormous market opportunity. We are extremely proud of what the LucidLink team has achieved so far. This is another great example of a successful startup becoming a global leader by leveraging local tech talent. We look forward to seeing LucidLink’s continued growth and expansion,” Elina Halatcheva, managing partner of BrightCap Ventures, told The Recursive.
Today, LucidLink customers in the creative industries and beyond collaborate on more than a billion files in 40 countries, with clients including Adobe, A&E Networks, Whirlpool, Shopify, Buzzfeed, and Spotify, as well as Hollywood studios, major broadcasters, brands, digital players. advertising agencies, architectural firms and gaming companies.
The company has also received numerous accolades, including Product of the Year from the National Association of Broadcasters in 2022 and 2023 and America’s Best Workplaces from Inc. Magazine in 2023.
