Montreal-based Lightspeed, which develops cloud-based point-of-sale systems for retailers and restaurants, has raised an $80 million investment round, the company announced on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The new money will be used to accelerate the Lightspeed\u2019s international growth, says Dax Dasilva, the company’s founder and CEO.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe raised a year ago and we\u2019re still well capitalized, we just have had some really great momentum in the last 12 months and have a lot of opportunities internationally and in e-commerce,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Lightspeed expanded into the restaurant market last September, that was partially driven by an acquisition in Belgium.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s given the company\u2019s restaurant POS business a stronger presence in Europe than in North America. It\u2019s the opposite story for its retail-focused business.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the big opportunities for us are bringing the restaurant software more to North America and bringing the retail software that we have to Europe,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Europe has been a particularly strong growth market for Lightspeed. While Dasilva says Lightspeed\u2019s overall business grew by 123 per cent year-over-year, its European business grew by 745 per cent over the past year.<\/p>\n
Part of that growth is being driven by regulatory changes that have seen European governments require bars and restaurants to install fiscal memory devices that track all sales going through a POS system to ensure that taxes are being paid. Those systems often require businesses to install new POS systems.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an opportunity for businesses, while seeking compliance with these new regulations,\u201d he says, \u201cto make the leap to cloud-based systems.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dasilva says he sees a similar opportunity in the United States where credit card companies have created a deadline for retailers to start accepting chip cards.<\/p>\n
After, Oct. 1, retailers who don\u2019t accept chip cards will no longer be reimbursed by credit card companies if they\u2019re the victims of fraud.<\/p>\n
Dasilva says the investment will also help Lightspeed improve its e-commerce and omnichannel offerings, giving merchants more flexibility and the ability to connect online and offline experiences.<\/p>\n
The current investment round is being led by the Caisse de d\u00e9p\u00f4t et placement du Qu\u00e9bec, an institutional investor that manages public and para-public pension plans along with Investissement Qu\u00e9bec, a provincial economic development agency.<\/p>\n
For Dasilva, the support from within Quebec underscores his commitment to grow Lightspeed\u2019s business internationally, while keeping it headquartered in Montreal.<\/p>\n