AppDirect, the world’s leading B2B commerce platform, announced it has acquired Builtfirst, a leader in self-service marketplace platform technology. AppDirect has over a decade of experience in digital commerce. Adding the Builtfirst platform into AppDirect’s suite of solutions further expands AppDirect’s ability to help companies of all sizes with their marketplace needs, becoming the single source destination for marketplaces.

“Companies often start with basic directories for integrations or special discounts and quickly evolve towards full-scale subscription commerce as experience and expertise grows”

With its low code/no code approach to getting a marketplace up and running in a matter of minutes, Builtfirst focuses technology development around self-service and user-friendly accessibility—an approach that aligns with AppDirect’s product-led growth strategy, launched in 2021. As a subscription commerce platform, AppDirect will offer Builtfirst customers additional benefits and new functionality, like the ability to leverage components of AppDirect’s digital commerce platform.

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This key acquisition arrives as more organizations invest in marketplaces, with Gartner¹ stating, “By 2025, 80% of B2B sales interactions between suppliers and buyers will occur in digital channels.” Although more buyers want to purchase through marketplaces, many organizations are early in the journey to offer their services and solution ecosystems through a marketplace. This new relationship between AppDirect and Builtfirst will provide multiple options on how to guide customers to begin their marketplace journey and scale to meet their future needs.

“Builtfirst was created based on a vision where every business can succeed together. We have extensive experience in helping mid-size organizations accomplish their marketplace goals,” said Aaron Bailey, co-founder and CEO of Builtfirst. “By joining the AppDirect team, Builtfirst will become part of an organization that’s founded on the same mission: to make technology universally accessible. AppDirect has a wealth of experience and knowledge in the Enterprise space, and with the addition of the Builtfirst platform, we now become a global powerhouse to meet all B2B marketplace demand.”

“Companies often start with basic directories for integrations or special discounts and quickly evolve towards full-scale subscription commerce as experience and expertise grows,” said Michael Julve, co-founder of Builtfirst. “This acquisition creates a crucial pipeline for their entire journey.”

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As a leader in digital commerce platforms and marketplaces, AppDirect recognizes the potential of Builtfirst’s growth in this space. This acquisition aligns AppDirect with an organization that shares similar goals, allowing it to meet the growing demand for technology that makes ecosystem strategies successful.

“This acquisition provides an immediate pathway for Builtfirst customers to move to commerce,” said Andy Ellerhorst, Vice President of Corporate Development and Chief of Staff at AppDirect. “Which is the natural progression for any marketplace. Bringing Builtfirst into the AppDirect team is not only beneficial for its customers, AppDirect will also gain a new line of business that helps our goal of making technology accessible for any sized organization.”

This acquisition is not expected to impact the Builtfirst brand in the short term. Customers will receive the high level of support and service they have come to expect from both companies.