Knife Capital invests in 19-year-old SaaS firm Cradle Technology Services

Cape Town based venture capital (VC) company Knife Capital announced today that it had invested in Software as a Service (SaaS) company Cradle Technology Services.

Last year Cradle was one of the 10 companies selected for the fourth cohort of the VC’s Grindstone Accelerator programme (see this story).

Knife Capital did not disclose how much it had invested in the company, which was founded in 2000 by Delia and Craig Collins (pictured above, left to right, toasting their recent investment with Knife Capital partner Keet van Zyl) to sell barcode scanners, label printers and labels.

However, Knife Capital partner Keet van Zyl said in a statement that the business had been “bootstrapped to date” and that the investment is a “Series-A” round. The business today has 35 employees.

Knife Capital has invested in Cradle Technology Services which was founded in 2000 by Craig and Delia Collins

Knife Capital invests via a consortium of funding partnerships, including SA Revenue Service (Sars) section 12J VC company KNF Ventures and select family offices.

Cradle Technology Services in 2010 developed a barcode-based warehouse management system (WMS) Granite.

Knife Capital said the software system is easy to use and integrates into various enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and accounting software packages. It said the system helps clients to expand warehouse operations and business processes to help deliver products “on time, accurately and cost-effectively”.

Since its launch, the VC said the software has become a leader in warehousing solutions for small businesses and is focused on integration with Sage 300, Sage 200 Evolution, SAP B1 or as a standalone operation. It is currently implemented in over 100 sites across three continents and in over 40 different industry sectors.

Commented Cradle CEO Craig Collins in the same statement: “We now have enough traction with a robust Software as a Service (SaaS) offering to aggressively ramp up local and international business development and marketing efforts”.

Van Zyl said the VC was impressed by Craig’s responsiveness during the company’s participation in the Grindstone programme in closing growth gaps identified and the team’s capability to turn sales leads into happy clients.

“The Granite SaaS product grew aggressively over the past two years, and discussions with the entrepreneurs evolved
into a workable investment case,” he said.

Van Zyl said according to Grand View Research, the global WMS market size is expected to reach $5.7-billion by 2025, progressing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.3% during the forecast period.

Featured image (from left to right): Cradle Technology Systems founders Delia and Craig Collins, toasting their recent investment from Knife Capital, with the VC’s partner Keet van Zyl (Supplied)