- September 13, 2021
- Posted by: Channelnomics
- Category: Blogs
Neat, a maker of videoconferencing and collaboration devices, recently announced the signing of a global distributor to support its go-to-market activities and strategic growth through the channel.
The company plans to add more distributors to add capacity as its channel relationships grow. The entry into distribution is interesting since Neat previously had a direct-to-customer logistics model through a relationship with UPS.
Themes
Channel Development & Evolution
Logistics Fulfillment Model
Distribution Value Proposition
About Neat
Website: neat.no
Year founded: 2019
Headquarters: Akershus, Norway
CEO: Simen Teigre
Channel Chief: Hellene Garcia, Head of Commercials
Revenue: $21 million (approximately)
Product segment: Video collaboration
Key partners: Microsoft, Zoom
Background
Founded in 2019 by former executives of Tandberg, the videoconferencing company acquired by Cisco in 2009, Neat designs and builds videoconferencing and collaboration devices that initially supported the Zoom videoconferencing service. In mid-2021, Neat announced a partnership with Microsoft to expand support to the Microsoft Teams collaboration system. In late 2020, under the guidance of former Cisco channel chief Rick Snyder, Neat launched a global channel program to sell through resellers and systems integrators. The company reports that its channel revenue is growing threefold quarter over quarter since the program’s launch.
Neat is one of the fortunate companies enjoying growth due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As social distancing changed the way businesses operate and communicate, Neat capitalized on the demand for simplified collaboration systems. With Zoom, the fast-growing videoconferencing platform, Neat created a foothold through its simple-to-operate devices sold online directly to customers and fulfilled by UPS.
The launch of the global channel program in 2020 enabled authorized partners to purchase and install products on behalf of their customers. Neat used the same UPS system to fulfill partner orders. Some vendors saw the UPS relationship as a potential model for replacing existing sell-in/out distribution relationships.
