Company Reaches $10B in Annual Transaction Volume; Moves Headquarters to Historic Montreal Landmark
Lightspeed POS, the commerce platform for serious retailers and restaurateurs, today announced its customers are now processing $10 billion in annual transactions through the Lightspeed platform, outpacing industry competitors. Lightspeed also expanded its customer base to 24,000 business locations across 100 countries. This growth, coupled with increasing transaction volume across its customer base - its average customer now processes more than $600,000 a year - helped the company achieve 123 percent year-over-year growth in bookings.
Lightspeed today is also unveiling its new 40,000 sq ft. headquarters in a legendary landmark space in Montreal, Gare Viger, a former railway station and hotel built in 1898. Lightspeed has been an essential player in reviving this historic location and surrounding community.
Consumers today move freely between in-store and online channels, and across various screens and modes of payment. In response, retailers are investing in technologies that will help them not only more profitably manage their businesses, but also provide a better browsing and purchasing experience for shoppers. Sales staff using iPads are not only able to check people out, but also manage the business and support customers while shopping.
"There are a lot of factors at play that make it an incredible time to be in the retail tech industry - the October 2015 deadline for U.S. retailers to change how they process credit card payments; the explosion of contactless payment options; the new bar for convenience, speed and service," said Dax Dasilva, founder and CEO of Lightspeed. "Lightspeed's focus on giving retailers and restaurateurs the tools that can not only help them survive, but thrive in this changing landscape is paying off - we are actually seeing our customers grow significantly faster than the market average."
Growth in Restaurant Business
Following a $35 million funding round last fall, Lightspeed launched its debut in a new market with Lightspeed Restaurant. The new product line is making strong contributions to the company's momentum, with a 600 percent year over year growth in active restaurant locations.
Canadian and European markets are experiencing restaurant payment regulations akin to those happening in the U.S., driving especially high momentum in global markets. This month, Lightspeed Restaurant received MEV (Quebec's government-mandated sales-tracking system for restaurants and bar) certification, making Lightspeed the first MEV-certified iPad POS system for restaurants and bars in Quebec. To accommodate the rapid growth, Lightspeed has increased employee headcount by 59 percent in 2014, and opened an office in London which is projected to double in size by the end of 2015.
Overall Momentum
A summary of Lightspeed's 2014 momentum includes:
123 percent year over year growth in bookings
Lightspeed customers are now processing $10 billion in annual transactions
52,000 registers in more than 100 countries
260 percent growth in Lightspeed Restaurant POS subscribers since launch in October 2014
Increased number of employees to more than 300
"Canada has become a strong incubator for rapidly growing tech companies - particularly in commerce - and it is finally having its day. In the last 18 months we've seen a surge of investments and successful exits, and all signs point to that continuing," said Dasilva. "We are here to say: you no longer have to be in Silicon Valley to be a unicorn."
