For the founders of the start-up Merchery, a corporate gift must be beautiful, useful and durable. The Brussels start-up, launched in 2020, is experiencing impressive growth. She aims to settle in New York and has just obtained the demanding B Corp label.
To prevent yet another plastic water bottle or yet another ugly and poor-quality umbrella from ending up in the depths of the cupboard, or worse, in the trash, Simon Polet and Benoit Fortpied founded their merchandising company Merchery in May 2020.
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To prevent yet another plastic water bottle or yet another ugly and poor-quality umbrella from ending up in the depths of the cupboard, or worse, in the trash, Simon Polet and Benoit Fortpied founded their merchandising company Merchery in May 2020. The Brussels e-commerce platform offers a varied selection of products that companies can personalize by adding their logo or slogan. Particular attention is paid to the quality, origin and design of each selected object.”We have a very thoughtful approach to corporate gifts. We want to offer useful, beautiful and durable products that we want to ‘to use and above all to keep,’ explains Simon Polet to Trends Tendances. In their catalog of more than 200 references, there is no room for cheap goodies out of use after a week, but for quality Caran D’Ache or Mont Blanc pens, the beautiful French Obut petanque balls, Opinel knives elegantly engraved, or soaps and biscuits made in Belgium. Childhood friends from Namur, Simon Polet studied at e-Founder and Benoit Fortpied at Deloitte and Deliveroo, before embarking on an entrepreneurial adventure at the age of 26. To finance the development of their start-up, they each put 5,000 euros on the table. With its first orders, the start-up became profitable just one month after its creation. Its turnover quickly swelled, from 600,000 euros in 2020 to 1.6 million euros for the company’s first fiscal year in 2021. A dazzling growth which is explained in particular by the fact that they don’t need to invest in a stock to operate. “We produce on demand, we have no stock. When a customer places an order with us, we contact the brand and we have the right quantity produced. So no need for working capital”, explains Simon Polet. Their unusual business model runs counter to that of other start-ups that rely on repeated fundraising from investors or business angels. “We simply financed our growth with short-term debt from our bank and via a finance.brussels loan of 150,000 euros that we have to repay within two years,” explains the entrepreneur. The founders of Merchery also say they refuse external financing offers in order to remain free in their decisions over the long term. The start-up is also experiencing rapid growth in terms of human resources. In barely two years, it has gone from 2 collaborators – its co-founders – to a dozen. The company, whose average employee age is 26, is aiming for twenty employees by the end of 2022. And their formula, which breaks the codes of corporate merchandising without revolutionizing it, is a hit. Clients come from a variety of backgrounds, in Belgium, but also all over Europe. They come from the banking, tech, cosmetics or fashion sectors. Public institutions also use their services. Merchery can pride itself on having attracted premium customers in a short time: Spotify, Caudalie, Accenture, Degroof Petercam, or even Dior Beauty. The collaborations with major brands for the branding of promotional products are varied, from Moleskine, to Victorinox, via the Brussels soap factories and soon the outdoor brand Patagonia. For the little anecdote, the start-up also provided the customized jackets that appear in the Sex Education series produced by Netflix. Its activity is mainly seasonal with 60% of its turnover achieved in the last months of the year, a period conducive to gifts and corporate events. Over the course of the pandemic, the start-up has also seen an increase in the demand for gifts for employees working from home. “We feel that companies want to spoil their staff by sending them small personalized attentions at home, this is also felt with the return to the workplace”, observes Simon Polet. Merchery has just obtained the demanding impact label, “B Corp”, after a rigorous evaluation process of more than a year and a half. This label certifies companies with a positive societal and environmental impact. It concerns strict questions related to the environment and societal issues, as well as a transparent governance policy. This certification recognized as “anti-greenwashing” is currently awarded to only 25 companies in Belgium. Other sustainable strings to its bow: Merchery has recently become carbon neutral and is a member of the “1% for the planet” movement. This global initiative is supported by companies that have decided to donate 1% of their turnover to associations for the preservation of the environment. Conquering New YorkThe founders of Merchery generate 20% of their turnover in Belgium, the other main markets being Germany, Great Britain, Denmark and Italy. Its founders make no secret of their international ambitions, with the opening of an office in New York planned for this summer. A project already postponed several times due to the health crisis, but which seems to be on the right track to materialize. The company will send two employees from its Brussels team to the Big Apple. The start-up currently generates 6% of its turnover in the United States and intends to increase it with this establishment across the Atlantic. The bet is ambitious, but also risky in the country par excellence of corporate branding where the competition will be tougher. The US market has strong growth potential, according to its founders. “When we launched Merchery, we received a lot of interest from the American press. We feel that there is a real demand in the USA for our services, even if there will be more competition than in Europe”, advances Simon Polet. “We are well aware that New York is not the easiest city to start a business, especially with the shortage of labor and the very different culture, but we want to realize a dream. And if we realize it there – down, we can do it anywhere”, enthuses, confident, the almost thirty-year-old.
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