Australia branding platform Outfit acquired by US strategic

Outfit received USD 20m in 2020 from Five Elms Capital, a B2B software specialist based in the US state of Missouri. Local backers include Microequities Venture Capital, a firm led by Les Szekely, chairman of B2B-focused GP Equity Venture Partners. Microequities provided AUD 1m ($680,000) in 2017.

Founded in 2015, Outfit offers a software-as-a-service platform with pre-defined branding guidelines that automates the re-sizing and reorganisation of documents. This includes various templates for items such as order forms and price tags. The idea is to empower teams to create content at scale, at speed, and on-brand.

The company claims to have a global client base. They include Australian National University, Durham University, and Bakers Delight, an Australian bakery chain with a footprint in the US and Canada.

Smartsheet plans to integrate Outfit’s design automation and templating capabilities into Brandfolder, its digital asset management offering. It described the investment as part of a data-driven collaborative work management strategy focused on marketing and creative design teams that are increasingly asked to do more with less.

“Digital assets are the lifeblood for many organisations. More and more we are seeing the value that collaborative work management and digital asset management platforms working together can deliver for our customers,” Mark Mader, CEO of Smartsheet, said in a statement.

Australian B2B players have proven successful at leveraging “bottom-up” marketing techniques that are effective in an increasingly disseminated workforce. The trend has been attributed to global scaling advantages such as lower domestic competition in the early stages and familiarity with UK and US markets in terms of language and business culture.

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