What Mercateo does

Mercateo is a Munich-headquartered B2B e-procurement marketplace, founded in 1999, that operates the Unite procurement portal to connect business buyers with suppliers across 12 European countries. The platform serves a horizontal customer base including enterprises, tradespeople, and freelancers, offering access to 13 major product categories spanning office supplies, IT hardware and software, tool technology, electronics and electrical engineering, business and storage equipment, occupational safety, technical trade supplies, medical and laboratory products, building technology, packaging and shipping, hospitality supplies, and cleaning products. Country-specific localized websites with multi-language support extend the platform's reach across Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Italy, France, Spain, UK, Ireland, Poland, Hungary, Switzerland, and Belgium.

The core technology is the Unite procurement portal — a B2B e-commerce platform providing unified purchasing workflows, shopping lists, order archives, and procurement request management. The platform integrates supplier catalogs into a centralized purchasing interface, enabling purchasing managers and shop customers to consolidate procurement across multiple vendors and categories. Key technical differentiators include multi-country integration and interoperability, with localized versions serving distinct linguistic and regulatory markets.

Mercateo generates revenue through a marketplace commission model on B2B transactions between buyers and suppliers selling through the platform. The company has raised disclosed funding across four rounds between 2004 and 2017, with cumulative disclosed capital of approximately $7 million from Target Partners, BayBG Venture Capital, and BIP Investment Partners. The company is privately held and led by co-founders Sebastian Wieser and Peter Ledermann as co-CEOs, alongside managing directors Lars Schade, Thomas Zoller, and Bernd Schonwalder.

Name

Mercateo

Legal name

Mercateo

Website

https://mercateo.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Mercateo operates the Unite B2B e-procurement marketplace connecting business buyers with suppliers across 12 European countries. Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Munich, it serves enterprises, tradespeople, and freelancers with 13 product categories.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

B2B Procurement Marketplace

NAICS

Professional and Commercial Equipment and Supplies Merchant Wholesalers (4234), Computer and Computer Peripheral Equipment and Software Merchant Wholesalers (42343), Other Commercial Equipment Merchant Wholesalers (42344)

SIC

Wholesale-Professional & Commercial Equipment & Supplies (5040), Wholesale-Computers & Peripheral Equipment & Software (5045), Wholesale-Durable Goods, Nec (5099)

akta.pro primary industry

Office Supplies, IT & Workplace Procurement Marketplaces (CRAFAHAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Business Technology & Electronics Wholesale Clubs (B2B) (CRAEAEAF), Office, Janitorial & Facility Supplies (B2B) (CRAEAEAE)

Keywords

• B2B e-procurement
• Procurement marketplace
• Electronic ordering
• Supplier catalogs
• Business purchasing

Headquarters

HQ city

Munich

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. B2B Marketplace Transaction Fees: Mercateo operates as a B2B marketplace connecting buyers with suppliers, likely generating revenue through transaction commissions or fees from suppliers selling products through the platform

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Mercateo operates Unite, a B2B e-procurement marketplace that connects business buyers with more than 4,000 suppliers across 12 European countries. The platform provides standardized product catalogs, electronic ordering, electronic invoicing, and compliance handling (e.g., WEEE), enabling companies to consolidate multi-supplier purchasing through a single contract.

Product overview

Mercateo operates the Unite B2B procurement platform, a multi-category e-commerce marketplace serving business customers across Europe. The core product is the Unite procurement portal, which integrates multiple product categories into a unified purchasing interface. The portfolio encompasses 12 distinct product categories covering office supplies (Bürobedarf), IT hardware and software, tool technology, electronics and electrical engineering, business and storage equipment, occupational safety, technical trade supplies, medical and laboratory products, building technology, packaging and shipping, hospitality supplies, and cleaning products. The platform serves as a centralized procurement solution for businesses, offering country-specific offerings across Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Italy, France, Spain, UK, Ireland, Poland, Hungary, Switzerland, and Belgium.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Unite: Procurement portal platform for B2B purchasing, serving shop customers, purchasing managers, suppliers, and manufacturers.

Products and services

• Mercateo Unite Unite is Mercateo's B2B e-procurement marketplace platform that gives European business buyers access to more than 4,000 suppliers across 12 countries. It unifies product catalog browsing, ordering, electronic invoicing, and regulatory handling (including WEEE) behind a single contract, replacing phone, fax, and email ordering with standardized electronic workflows and OCI punch-out integration.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Amazon Business: Amazon Business is the closest direct peer — a global B2B e-commerce marketplace serving purchasing managers with broad multi-category assortments (office, IT, janitorial, lab). It competes head-to-head with Mercateo in European markets on similar use cases and buyer personas.
• Jaggaer: Jaggaer is a direct procurement-software competitor offering source-to-pay with integrated supplier network and catalog capabilities for direct and indirect spend. It overlaps Mercateo's core B2B procurement-marketplace value proposition for European enterprise customers.
• Basware: Basware is a Finland-based procurement and AP automation vendor with a connected supplier network for invoice and catalog exchange. It serves a similar European enterprise buyer base as Mercateo, with overlapping indirect-spend marketplace functionality.
• Ivalua: Ivalua is a procurement suite vendor with supplier network and catalog-management modules. It targets a similar European and global enterprise audience as Mercateo's Unite portal, focusing on consolidating catalog-based indirect spend buying.
• Proactis: Proactis is a UK/European source-to-pay and supplier marketplace provider. It directly competes with Mercateo in the mid-market procurement-marketplace segment across the UK and continental Europe.
• Zycus: Zycus is a procurement-software vendor with an integrated supplier network and catalog/marketplace features. It targets a similar enterprise indirect-spend use case to Mercateo, often through global system integrator partnerships.

Broad incumbents

• SAP Ariba: SAP Ariba is the dominant procurement suite incumbent, operating a B2B marketplace and source-to-pay network within SAP's broader ERP portfolio. Ariba overlaps Mercateo's catalog/marketplace function but bundles it with ERP, sourcing, and contract management for enterprise accounts.
• Coupa Software: Coupa is a leading procurement and spend management platform with a community/marketplace layer for catalog-based buying. It targets enterprise and mid-market purchasing organizations on a similar B2B e-procurement use case to Mercateo, but typically as part of a broader spend-management suite.
• Alibaba.com / 1688.com: Alibaba operates the world's largest B2B e-commerce marketplace, supplying cross-border SMBs in similar indirect-spend categories (office, electronics, tools, packaging). It is an indirect peer due to its global scale and overlapping buyer base, though it does not directly compete in Mercateo's core DACH mid-market segment.

Regional players

• Conrad Electronic: Conrad Electronic is a European B2B distributor and marketplace for electronics, tools, and technical supplies. It is comparable to Mercateo's electronics, tools, and technical-trade categories, primarily within the DACH and broader European region.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/inside_mercateo
• Facebookfacebook.com/mercateo.karriere
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mercateo

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds4 records

Investors3 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Mercateo