Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised May 29, 2026

Commercetools

commercetools, is a Munich, Germany based company which offers cloud-based headless commerce platform that provides APIs to power e-commerce sales and similar functions for large businesses. Both the company and platform are called commercetools. Through its investor REWE Group it is associated with the omnichannel order fulfillment software solutions provider fulfillmenttools and the payment transactions provider paymenttools. commercetools is a founding member of the MACH Alliance.

Last revised
May 29, 2026
Read time
≈ 3 min
Length
713 w
Citations
29
Source
Wikipedia ↗
commercetools
Company type
Private
IndustryE-commerce
Founded2006 (2006)
Munich, Germany
Founders
  • Dirk Hoerig
  • Denis Werner
Headquarters
Munich
,
Germany
Number of locations
121 (2022)
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Doug McNary (CEO)
Number of employees
600+1 (2022)
Websitecommercetools.com

commercetools, is a Munich, Germany based company which offers cloud-based headless commerce platform that provides APIs to power e-commerce sales and similar functions for large businesses.2 Both the company and platform are called commercetools.1 Through its investor REWE Group it is associated with the omnichannel order fulfillment software solutions provider fulfillmenttools and the payment transactions provider paymenttools.3456 commercetools is a founding member of the MACH Alliance.

History

commercetools was founded by Dirk Hoerig and Denis Werner in 2006.78 It launched its platform in 2013.9 In 2014, commercetools was wholly bought by REWE Digital, part of Germany’s REWE Group.1011 Hoerig is credited with coining the term "headless commerce".12

In 2018, commercetools announced a $17 million investment to support its international expansion.13 It expanded into the U.K market in 2019 with the opening of its London office.14 In 2020, commercetools established a presence in Australia, with a team in Melbourne and a data center in Sydney.15

In 2019, commercetools raised $145 million from venture capital firm Insight Partners.15 Insight Partners' managing directors Richard Wells and Matt Gatto joined commercetools' board of directors as part of the deal.1617 At the same time, commercetools was spun out by REWE. REWE remains a significant shareholder.10

In January 2021, commercetools partnered with car manufacturer Volkswagen Group to use the platform for its group brands, including Volkswagen, Bentley, Porsche and Audi.18

In May 2021, REWE group announced additional investment into commercetools to fund growth into the Chinese market.19

In September 2021, commercetools raised $140m in its series C round, led by venture capital firm Accel, valuing the company at $1.9 billion.20

In November 2021, commercetools acquired Frontastic2122 for an undisclosed amount.

In July 2024, Founder and CEO Dirk Hoerig stepped down as CEO and Andrew Burton was named as the new CEO.232425

References

References

  1. "commercetools locations". Craft.co. Archived from the original on 2021-06-11.
  2. Lunden, Ignrid. "Commercetools raises $145M from Insight for Shopify-style e-commerce APIs for large enterprises". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2021-06-11.
  3. Jonas Jansen (2020-09-09). "Rewe verkauft auch Wissen". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung - FAZ.NET (in German). Retrieved 2022-09-07.
  4. Michael Gerling (2022-09-14). "73.000 Tonnen Papier sparen". EHI Retail Institute (in German). Retrieved 2022-09-23.
  5. Dominik Grollmann (2021-07-05). "Rewe startet eigenen Paymentdienst". iBusiness (in German). Retrieved 2022-09-25.
  6. Stephan Lamprecht (2021-07-21). "Rewe Gruppe gründet Payment-Technologietochter". Payment & Banking (in German). Retrieved 2022-10-05.
  7. Wong, Stephanie; Morgan, Carter. "2020 Year In Review: How I Launched This, A SaaS Story". How I Launched This: Google Cloud. Archived from the original on 2020-09-19. Retrieved 2021-06-11.
  8. "commercetools mit weiterem Investmentkapital - VC Magazin" (in German). Archived from the original on 2021-05-22. Retrieved 2021-06-11.
  9. Melton, James (2019-10-24). "Headless ecommerce platform vendor commercetools raises $145 million". Digital Commerce 360. Archived from the original on 2019-10-30. Retrieved 2021-06-11.
  10. Palmer, Maija; Smith, Tim (2020-11-24). "European tech companies are beating Amazon at its own game". Sifted. Archived from the original on 2020-11-24. Retrieved 2021-06-11.
  11. "Shopify-Investor pumpt 130 Millionen in commercetools". deutsche-startups.de (in German). 2019-10-21. Retrieved 2021-06-11.
  12. Lunden, Ingrid. "Italy's Commerce Layer raises $16M led by Coatue for its headless commerce platform". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2021-06-16.
  13. Pirrone, Gabriella. "commercetools CEO on Global Enterprise Expansion". CMSC. Archived from the original on 2019-05-09. Retrieved 2021-06-14.
  14. Walker, Peter. "German e-commerce tech firm enters UK market". Retail Systems. Retrieved 2021-06-16.
  15. "commercetools Announces Arrival In Australia". B&T. 2020-03-10. Retrieved 2021-06-16.
  16. Lunden, Ingrid. "Commercetools raises $145M from Insight for Shopify-style e-commerce APIs for large enterprises". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2021-06-16.
  17. Melton, James (2019-10-24). "Headless ecommerce platform vendor commercetools raises $145 million". Digital Commerce 360. Archived from the original on 2019-10-30. Retrieved 2021-06-16.
  18. Edwards, Roy (2021-01-15). "Volkswagen selects commercetools for its eCommerce solution -". Enterprise Times. Retrieved 2021-06-16.
  19. Farrelly, Connor. "REWE Group Invests In Expansion Of Commercetools". ESM Magazine. Archived from the original on 2021-05-17. Retrieved 2021-06-17.
  20. "Commercetools raises $140M at a $1.9B valuation as 'headless' commerce continues to boom". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2021-10-13.
  21. "VC Daily: In Venture Investing, Early Stage Moves to Main Stage". Wall Street Journal. 2021-11-22. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  22. Demery |, Paul (2021-11-22). "Commercetools fills a headless technology gap with Frontastic". Digital Commerce 360. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  23. "commercetools Appoints New CEO". commercetools.com. Retrieved 2025-10-23.
  24. "commercetools Appoints Andrew Burton as CEO; Dirk Hoerig Transitions to CIO". MarTech Edge. Retrieved 2025-10-23.
  25. "Commercetools Appoints New Chief Executive Officer". Built In. Retrieved 2025-10-23.