Metrilo
Murray Ivanov launched Metrilo in April 2014 with a co-founder, splitting equity 50/50. Based in Sofia, Bulgaria, the pair identified a gap in the e-commerce tooling market: store owners needed better ways to understand their customer data and optimize their marketing. Metrilo positioned itself as a CRM and analytics platform specifically for online stores, integrating with major platforms like Shopify, Magento, and WooCommerce.
The company kept its pricing simple and accessible: around $150 per month based on monthly unique website visitors. This low price point meant they needed to acquire customers at scale, which required capital investment. They raised just under 1 million euros in equity funding, with a $500,000 round closing in April 2017 at a sub-$10 million valuation. By keeping their Sofia team lean (15 people) with lower operating costs, they could survive while building their customer base.
In 12 months, Metrilo grew from 120 customers ($18k MRR) to 450 customers ($67k MRR)—a 3.7x revenue increase. Facebook Ads became their dominant acquisition channel, with monthly spend ranging from $20-45k, accounting for 80% of revenue. Their CAC was around $700 (or $1,200 for PPC alone), with a healthy 4-5 month payback period. Logo churn sat at 4% monthly, while net MRR expansion was 1.2x—meaning existing customers were adding value.
One early customer became emblematic of the platform's value: a founder they worked with from day one grew to a $100 million acquisition by TNG within 2.5 years, using Metrilo to optimize every growth lever. This success story validated their positioning as a true growth tool for ambitious e-commerce founders. By 2018, with lifetime customer value around $3,000 and proven CAC economics, Metrilo was planning a $1.2-1.3M Series A raise to shift into selling to slightly larger businesses and building a dedicated sales team—moving from pure paid acquisition to a more diversified growth playbook.
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