Centric Software to open first Asian office in Shanghai

“Looking at the world market, China represents one of the biggest opportunities in the apparel and consumer products market, with both brands and retailers,” says Chris Groves, Centric’s president and CEO. “Centric has a tremendous amount to offer these companies as they grow and expand internationally. The time is now for PLM adoption, and specifically for adoption of flexible, configurable software like the Centric 8 PLM solution.”

The announcement of the Shanghai office opening comes on the heels of Centric’s July 29 announcement of $24 million in growth capital as part of its Series D venture capital financing. One of the primary goals of the financing round was to help Centric expand its presence in the China market, according to Groves. “As the Chinese consumer product market expands and becomes more sophisticated and complex, so, too, are companies’ business processes,” he explains.

“The market is ripe for PLM’s efficiency, business benfits and ability to manage market complexities.” Fung Capital USA and Silver Lake Waterman led Centric’s Series D financing round.

Fung Capital USA is the investment arm of the Hong Kong-based Fung family, whose holdings include Li & Fung Limited, a public company that sources and distributes consumer products globally, with more than $20 billion in revenues. Silver Lake Waterman is the growth capital arm of Silver Lake, the global leader in technology investing.

Prior investors Oak Investment Partners and Masthead Partners also participated in the financing round. Centric already is working in China. The Sak, which designs and manufactures texture-rich handbags, footwear, and accessories, is implementing the Centric 8 PLM solution with its product development team in China.

Cache Cache China, which offers modern, fashionable and accessible women’s ready-to-wear apparel, is implementing Centric 8 across all of its product lines. Because Centric 8 comes ready for configuration, out of the box, companies need not spend valuable resources on customization of the software, says Groves.

“The Agile DeploymentSM concept with which Centric 8 works will give Chinese companies the ability to configure for their processes and needs,” he states. “Centric can flex with businesses as they adapt to new business processes.”

Centric Software