Go North is an e-commerce aggregator focusing on acquiring and scaling Amazon brands. On a mission to unlock the potential of products and people with knowledge and care- making sustainable consumption possible- on Amazon and beyond, Go North plans on acquiring more brands this autumn, ending up at around 25 in total. By the end of 2023, they aim to have 50+ brands in their portfolio and become Europe's next unicorn.
Siloed cards, numerous brands - the warning lights were already flashing long before Go North came over to the Juni platform. “Before Juni, we were managing our ad spend on multiple cards that lacked the infrastructure to provide us with proper oversight. With plans to build a portfolio of 50 brands across multiple markets, this old school set up just wasn’t fit for purpose,” says Go North COO Scott Henshaw.
Additionally, holding funds in these accounts and in one single currency inevitably resulted in high FX fees. Then there was the lack of visibility. As an ecommerce aggregator intent upon building Europe’s next unicorn, Go North provides its portfolio brands with the expertise and support they need to drive growth. But they were hindered by a double whammy: first, a ton of admin that comes with such a high level of international transactions. And second, no clear, unified overview of each brand’s spend.
Add to that the overwhelming amount of time spent on manually allocating costs to each separate brand. “We’re a forward-looking tech company yet everything just felt so clunky. Our previous card simply wasn’t geared to the level of international transactions we perform every month. We have big, big ambitions which Juni share with us, and can help us to make them happen,” explains CEO and Founder Johan Hallenby.
High FX fees, no clear holistic overview of individual brands, and wasteful financial admin aren’t exactly the magic ingredients for growth. Things had to change. And that’s where Juni comes in…
As an e-commerce aggregator, Go North has big ambitions for a far-reaching portfolio incorporating different accounts, markets and currencies. They needed a financial platform with the flexibility and the vision to match. And as far as Hallenby was concerned, the Juni card made a perfect fit for this multi-brand future - especially with plans to end up with a 50+ portfolio by 2023.
Go North's brands now benefit from separate cards for payments, rather than the old-school one-card-doesn’t-fit-all solution. The Juni platform means they no longer have to waste lots of time allocating spend to each brand.
In addition to the freedom of allowing separate cards for separate brands, Juni also opens up the capability for each brand to use dollars, euros, pounds sterling and now Swedish kronor too. In other words, Juni makes a perfect fit with Go North’s global expansion plans by offering seamless spending across different markets. Holding funds in different currencies is really helping to keep a lid on FX fees, while at the same time keeping the admin super organised.
“With the Juni platform we now have a holistic overview of each brand and its corresponding expenses. Compared to the old-school setup of using a single card across the board, I can’t begin to explain the difference it’s made. ,” continues Henshaw. And that’s not all. Access to multi-currency Juni accounts has allowed Go North to wave goodbye to the expense and the hassle of spending in different currencies.
Go North now plans to implement Juni across the board for all brands and all spend. By gaining a holistic overview across all their integrated bank accounts, the company will be in a position to quickly analyze expenses and cut out unnecessary costs at a crucial time of growth. And as the company looks to boost margins as well as drive down costs, cashback on all eligible spend will also make a material difference. In the search for Europe’s next unicorn, Juni is helping to turn a fairytale into reality.
*According to Go North Group AB (publ)’s terms & conditions for senior secured floating rate bonds with ISIN SE0018040867 under a framework of up to SEK 280,000,000, the company is limited to other external loans and credits, the partnership with Juni is compliant with above.