Primo, a Paris-based that provides an IT-as-a-service platform, has secured $3.4M in a Seed round from Headline and Global Founders Capital.
Angels, including Arthur Waller (Founder of Pennylane), Romain Niccoli (Founder of Criteo and Pigment), Ilana Elbaz (first employee and VP of Sales at Deel), Josef Bovet (founder of Tiller, acquired by SumUp), Mathieu Birach (Chief People Office of Doctolib), Romain Libeau (COO of Swile), participated in the round.
The French company will use the funds to expand its engineering team as it builds itself up as a strongly product-led growth organisation.
All-in-one IT solution
Founded by Martin Pannier, Nicolas Nallet, and Antoine de Mereuil, Primo aims to streamline IT management with an all-in-one platform more akin to modern SaaS.
The all-in-one solution allows SMBs to manage their applications, devices, people, and security in a single IT-as-a-service platform that scales with them.
Primo lets teams from 2 to 2000 employees take back the 109 hours that each worker loses on IT-related issues every year.
“There is no reason to continue treating IT as necessary pain. It should be as easy as the best SaaS products, something that gets you value from day 1 and that moves at the same speed as you. Primo allows small and medium businesses to combine the agility & savings of DIY solutions with the dashboards and workflows that allow them to retain visibility and control. We want companies to find their IT delightful on their journey from 2 to 2000 employees.” continues Martin.
Primo is built as a centralised space for employees, managers, admin & HR to collaborate and organised around four modules:
- Deploy: a free tier that allows employers to equip their teams with the hardware equipment they need, on a flexible lease basis.
- Configure: an integrated Mobile Device Management solution to remotely manage and monitor the configuration and security of devices.
- Support: IT support + insurance, where Primo directly handles all computer incidents.
- Secure: next-gen antivirus solutions (NGAV), and end-point detection and response (EDR) to cover all external security needs. In partnership with a cybersecurity company, this module is still being built.
“Consider the current process for onboarding a new hire. First, you buy a laptop from Apple.com. Plus keyboard, mouse, and screen from Amazon.com. Then manually add the employee to your HR software, the “fleet tracking” spreadsheet, the outsourced device management system (MDM) of choice, and so on. This means inconsistencies, overwork, and loads of admin. Traditional IT Management is expensive and no longer fits the needs of modern companies. That’s why we are thinking of Primo as an “operating system for IT.” says co-founder Nicolas Nallet.
The company is on track to reach 300 customers (including Dalma, Beebs, and Cohort) and $2M in annual recurring revenue by the end of the year.
“No matter what type of SMB we spoke with, 100% of them told us they need a product like Primo to exist. Regardless of their industry, geography, or stage. There is no other IT platform that lets you equip your employees, support them, and manage the whole IT stack. Martin, Nicolas, and Antoine are adding the missing piece to any entrepreneur’s toolset” states Jonathan Userovici, General Partner at Headline.
“IT management is often a painful topic for companies – especially for SMEs that do not have the resources to build up an IT department by themselves. We have been impressed since day one by the vision of Martin, Nicolas, and Antoine: To offer an all-in-one IT platform that combines all the IT functions necessary to scale a business. We believe that Primo will be a game changer for their clients across Europe whatever their size and activity” adds David Sainteff, Partner at Global Founders Capital.
