E-Business startup fipart receives new capital injection

April 27, 2011 - PRLog -- Stuttgart, 04/27/2011:  fipart GmbH, an e-Business platform for the aeronautical industry, announced today that it has raised a second round of financing from its investors, Prinz von Hohenzollern Capital GmbH & Co KG (PvH Capital) and the KfW Bankengruppe.  Both have invested the same amount.
The amount and terms of the financing were not disclosed. The new money follows an initial financing by both investors in October 2009.

With the fresh capital, fipart plans to further build its technology platform, expand its sales and marketing activities and develop new functionalities that boost transparency and quality in aeronautical aftermarket procurement.  

“The aftermarket procurement for aviation parts and services is highly inefficient, driven by methods developed decades ago,” said fipart chief executive Andreas Lampprecht. “Buyers regularly complain about the listing of phantom parts, inaccurate inventory and unreliable suppliers. With the new funding, we’ll be able to tackle these flaws and create a system that promotes and rewards high-quality buyers and sellers.”  

In line with this goal, fipart is currently developing a new feature that will significantly improve fipart’s existing system to rate the quality of buyers, sellers and transactions in aviation aftermarket procurement. It is expected to go live during the next release of fipart’s technology platform, planned for April 2011.

fipart’s mission is to boost transparency in aeronautical aftermarket procurement, remove inefficiencies and create a high-quality online experience for the aviation procurement community.  It does this by combining sophisticated data mining technology with advanced social networking features. The company currently has 13,000 users and 25 million listed parts.

“Buying and selling in the 21st century is all about knowledge, quality and professional recommendations,” said Lampprecht. “fipart is building the system that will bring this to the aviation industry.”

“We have confidence in fipart’s business model and want to continue to support the company as it builds a unique and value-added online experience for its users,” said Andreas Schuster, managing director at PvH Capital.
PvH Capital invests in promising startups and young companies with the broader aim of making Germany a more attractive location for innovation and entrepreneurship.  PvH Capital has supported fipart as a financial and strategic investor since fipart’s founding in 2007.

Through its ERP-Startfonds, the KfW Bankengruppe invests in young technology start-ups that are based in Germany and with annual revenues that do not exceed 10 million euros.

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fipart is the next generation eBusiness platform for the aviation aftermarket. Combining features for trading and networking, fipart facilitates the commerce of aeronautical parts, products and services at the speed of 21st century technology.

fipart’s internet solutions leverage advanced technology and social networking practices to provide buyer and seller interactions based on quality driven processes and professional recommendations. fipart is building a system that directly tackles the issues of phantom parts, inaccurate inventory, or unreliable parties by rewarding and promoting real quality buyers and real quality sellers.