UK-based Shop Circle acquires Bulgaria’s Rush

Rush

UK-based Shop Circle acquires Bulgaria’s Rush

The price of the deal for the software developer is not public

Rush

© Rush


One of the sectors that was given a boost by the pandemic in 2020 was online commerce. Since then, hundreds of technological solutions have been developed to help avoid shipment delays, loss of packages and other key issues. This is also the focus of Bulgarian software company Rush, founded by Stanislav Stankov and Kiril Kirilov, which has recently been acquired by UK-based Shop Circle.

The price of the deal for 100% of the shares in Rush is not public. The founders are no longer engaged in the operational processes of the business and one of them is already working on a new project in another rapidly developing sector: digital health.

From idea to exit in 4 years

Rush's clients are stores that make international sales. The software not only tracks orders but also notifies customers about delivery dates, delays, the location of the package, and more. It serves as an add-on for stores using the Shopify platform but also allows connecting to other stores via API.

"Over the years, Rush developed successfully with software quality comparable to that of established companies but we offered it at a better price. We added innovative solutions-calculating delivery time with 95% accuracy within 3 days, as well as a drag-and-drop tracking page with components directly in the platform editor," Rush told the Capital Weekly. By the time of the transaction its software was processing over 1.5 million orders monthly. Revenue for 2022 came in at 522,000 levs (267,000 euro).

Stanislav Stankov (left) and Kiril Kirilov have no operational stake in the business after the deal
Source: Rush

The acquisition is strategic, added Rush, citing increasing market competition and Shopify's heightened requirements. "Given the new reality, we decided that to continue Rush's development, we needed to find a strategic partner to utilize the product," Stankov explained.

Rush found that partner in Shop Circle, a portfolio of various applications for Shopify stores, united in a single ecosystem with consolidated costs for maintenance, accounting and finance. "Rush fit very well into this model. We were the perfect addition to their post-sale store service applications," Stankov added.

Investor support

Several institutional partners and business angels had invested in Rush before the sale, injecting over 2.5 million euro into the project. Launchub Ventures and Eleven held shares in the company, as did Georgi Petrov and Mihail Stoychev (founders of SMSBump and NitroPack), Yair Miron (founder of Rise.ai), Adii Pienaar (co-founder of WooCommerce), Casey Armstrong (CMO at Shipbob) and Jonathan Kennedy (founder of HeyCarson and AppStoreResearch).

At the time of the transaction, Rush's team consisted of 12 employees from Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Serbia, Moldova, the Philippines, Pakistan and India. The deal parameters did not require further participation of the founders in the operational processes. "I have consulted their team several times on product and technical issues but all resources were transferred to Shop Circle and they manage the product independently," Stankov said.

A new beginning

Stankov is now working on a new project in the area of digital health. "This sector attracted my interest even while we were developing Rush. After completing my involvement there, I started working actively on the new project", he explained. In May 2023 he registered a company, Medentic, in partnership with Yasen Spasov.

"Our idea is to develop Medentic as a product company focused on the healthcare sector. I see enormous potential in this project, especially since some digitalization processes in healthcare have already begun," Stankov said.

The partners plan to launch the first version of their software for testing in September, with the official start envisaged for the end of the year.

One of the sectors that was given a boost by the pandemic in 2020 was online commerce. Since then, hundreds of technological solutions have been developed to help avoid shipment delays, loss of packages and other key issues. This is also the focus of Bulgarian software company Rush, founded by Stanislav Stankov and Kiril Kirilov, which has recently been acquired by UK-based Shop Circle.

The price of the deal for 100% of the shares in Rush is not public. The founders are no longer engaged in the operational processes of the business and one of them is already working on a new project in another rapidly developing sector: digital health.

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