| Tradex Technologies Inc. | |
| Industry: | B2B e-commerce |
| Fate: | Acquired by SAP Ariba |
| Founder: | Daniel Aegerter |
| Location: | Tampa |
Tradex Technologies Inc. was a developer of Java-based B2B e-commerce software. It primarily operated in the industries of financial services, telecommunications, plastics, and foodservice. It offered a platform for vertical trading hubs, another for large enterprises, and a third for the distributor channel segment. The software used JavaBeans technology.
At the peak of the dot-com bubble in March 2000, SAP Ariba acquired Tradex for 19 million shares of Ariba stock, then worth $5.6 billion.[1]
The company received 60% of revenue from licensing its software, 30% from support services, and 10% from transaction fees. Nippon Telegraph and Telephone was the largest customer of the company and VerticalNet was also a customer.
The company was founded by Daniel Aegerter as an Internet-based system for automating the purchase of computer peripherals for electronic publishing, which were distributed by his company, Dynabit.[2]
At first, in 1996, Tradex offered a wholesale marketplace for computer equipment, with 40 vendors offering 15,000 products.[3] In 1999, the company had 180 employees and 480 customers.[4]
In 1996, it received an award from the Gartner Group and InformationWeek as the best Internet B2B e-commerce solution.[5]
Revenues in 1998 were estimated to be less than $5 million.
By September 1999, the company had raised $28 million from investors including Internet Capital Group, Sigma Partners, Apex Investment Partners, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, First Analysis Corporation, Imlay Investments, and United Parcel Service.[2]
In 1999, it was negotiation a headquarters move to Atlanta. It also had offices in Boston, Dallas, Tampa, San Francisco, Washington D.C., London and Tokyo.[6]
In December 1999, Ariba announced the acquisition of Tradex for stock then valued at $1.86 billion.[4] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
In January 2000, the company reached a reselling agreement with JD Edwards.[13]
On March 8, 2000, at the height of the dot com bubble, Ariba completed the acquisition.[1] Ariba shares had tripled since the announcement of the acquisition 4 months earlier and Tradex was therefore valued at $5.6 billion, making Daniel Aegerter a billionaire on paper.