Kyklo, a company focused on assisting wholesale distributors of electrical and automation products in establishing online stores, has announced the completion of an $8.5 million seed funding round.

While the sector might appear specialized, founders Remi Ducrocq, Kyklo’s CEO, and Fabien Legouic, the CTO, bring firsthand experience from their time at Schneider Electric. Ducrocq explained that the current sales process for these products to manufacturers and electricians is often inefficient, heavily dependent on paper-based PDF catalogs.

Transitioning these companies to a digital format presents a more significant undertaking than creating a typical online store, primarily due to the extensive product ranges and the necessity for precise product information.

“Even smaller companies offer around 100,000 unique items, potentially reaching up to 1 million,” Ducrocq stated. “Selecting the incorrect product can cause significant disruptions to a factory’s operations. It is vitally important to ensure accurate details are displayed on the online store to facilitate successful transactions.”

Ducrocq clarified that Kyklo does not fully automate the process, as “completely automating content creation or applying artificial intelligence to such unstructured data is not feasible.” The creation of these stores involves a manual effort from the Kyklo team, though the company has developed “technologies to streamline this manual process as much as possible.”

This includes the implementation of standardized data formats and various scripts to accelerate the creation of these product listings. Ducrocq indicated that Kyklo can enable distributors to launch an online store within 30 days, and in some cases, as quickly as two weeks.

To date, Kyklo has compiled a catalog of over 2.5 million products for more than 35 distributors. The company has also received endorsements from manufacturers including Schneider Electric, Wago, Festo US and Mitsubishi Electric Automation, who have designated Kyklo as their preferred e-commerce partner.

Ducrocq highlighted that adopting a digital approach with Kyklo benefits businesses by expanding their reach to new customers through enhanced SEO and providing tools to increase sales with their current customer base. For instance, IEC Supply reported a 500% increase in online sales within the first six months of launching with Kyklo, alongside a tripling of new customer interactions.

“The market’s readiness for digital solutions has been accelerated by the pandemic,” he added. “Traditional B2B companies were initially hesitant to embrace digitization, with only forward-thinking businesses exploring the possibilities. However, with salespeople unable to meet customers in person for months, many distributors are now re-evaluating their go-to-market strategies.”

Kyklo’s total funding now amounts to $10.2 million. This latest funding round was led by Felicis Ventures and IA Ventures, with additional participation from Jungle Ventures, partners at Wavemaker, Seedplus and several strategic angel investors.

“Given that 80% of the $640 billion electrical, industrial and automation distribution industry still relies on PDF catalogs and traditional communication methods like phone and email, distributors are facing a significant market challenge,” stated Felicis Managing Director Sundeep Peechu. “KYKLO’s platform empowers these companies to adapt to critical industry demands and reconsider how digital tools can revolutionize their sales operations.”