commonsku (PPAI 552077), the Toronto-based business and sales software provider serving the promotional products industry, has brought on an investment partner in Frontier Growth.

“As we all have seen, the industry has increased in complexity, and the expectations of end-users have never been greater,” says commonsku CEO Catherine Graham. “With that comes significant opportunities for how technology can solve these challenges, from more flexible e-commerce, more seamless ordering solutions, AI enablement and stronger integrations into both the supply chain and technology being used to support other areas of the business. We believe there has never been a greater opportunity within the promotional products industry.

“Branded merchandise is reaching into new areas and commands a level of respect and attention that we have not seen since we first joined the industry in 2000. We could not be more excited to support this trajectory by not only building out enabling technology, but also continuing to grow our customer success function, build new community offerings, content and events to help distributors and suppliers grow their businesses.”

commonsku, which along with its industry offerings, hosts the annual skucon in conjunction with The PPAI Expo, was named this year to PPAI’s 2023 #Online18 listing of the best industry organizations on social media and to the 2023 Greatest Companies To Work For ranking.

“Over the years, we have been approached by countless investment firms and have always turned them down as we didn’t need the capital,” says Mark Graham, commonsku’s president and chief brand officer. “But when Frontier approached us, it felt different. They are a growth equity firm based in Charlotte, North Carolina, with a laser focus on healthy, growing and market-leading industry-specific software companies. Their portfolio and track record are incredibly impressive, and we are excited to be in the company of exceptional software companies that we can learn from. But most importantly, what we immediately saw in Frontier was a culture and mindset that matched our own: kind, humble and ambitious people with a focus on building great businesses.”

Frontier Growth, a software-focused private equity firm, was named to Inc. magazine’s 2022 list of founder-friendly investors. Recent successes at the company include:

  • Its shepherding of Media Radar, a provider of cross-media advertising intelligence for media sellers, agencies, and brands, to new growth investments.
  • Its acquisition and recent sale of KnowBe4, one of the world’s largest providers of security awareness training and simulated phishing solutions

Catherine Graham adds, “We want to emphasize that we still own the majority of commonsku, our commitment and love for the company, our employees, our customers and the promotional products industry remains as strong as ever. We could not be more excited to continue to make an even bigger impact on the promotional industry and support our customers on their journeys.”