Ravi Venkatesan, CEO of Cantaloupe, discusses the acquisition of SB Software and his career with PV Editor Ian Reynolds-Young.
Did you see it coming? Cantaloupe’s acquisition of SB Software raised the industry’s eyebrows when it was announced in September, but was it really such a big surprise? Since its purchase, for $41m, of Three-Square Markets in December 2022, Cantaloupe has been busily boosting its profile in the UK, with the aim of positioning itself as ‘thought leaders’ in the field of cashless payments, software services and the growing trends of self-service, which include micro markets and smart stores Their activity has included the distribution to the trade press of case histories of successful UK partnerships, Cantaloupe Live in-person events and, much more; including, we’re delighted to say, the sponsorship of Planet Vending’s Micro Brew, a quarterly series of round-ups from the world of Micro Markets, and Unattended Retail.
With so many businesses vying for supremacy in a highly competitive market, my thought was ‘why did Cantaloupe choose SB Software?’ It’s a question that Ravi Venkatesan, CEO of Cantaloupe, is happy to answer.
‘SB Software had the best customer delight of any company that we found’
‘Simply put, SB Software had the best customer delight of any company that we found’, he began. ‘We have our own set of outstanding key patterns on the software side and a similar number on the payment acceptance side; but really, when you enter a new market, the missing piece, in my experience, is often credibility in the eyes of customers in that market.
‘We didn’t want to be seen as just another American company setting up shop in Europe and the UK, with customers wondering if we’re going to be around for two days or two months or two years, and then pull out because we couldn’t make it.’
‘We wanted to demonstrate to the marketplace that we aren’t going anywhere. That’s why we bought the company that we considered to have the best passion for customer excellence and support, coupled with a trusted and proven leading software platform.’
So: is it Cantaloupe’s intention to replace SB Software’s product range with its own?
We really like the products and the way they perfectly fit the market in the UK, Ireland and Europe
‘Absolutely not’, Ravi says. ‘They have Vendmanager and Coffeemanager, and you don’t get the sort of customer delight that SB Software enjoys unless the product is really good. We really like the products and the way they perfectly fit the market in the UK, Ireland and Europe.
‘The way in which the coffee business is run in these territories is very different to the way it is in the US’, Ravi says. ‘In the US, coffee is more of a pantry service, in which you invoice for coffee supplies and typically, it’s a service that’s provided to employees free of charge. In Europe, you actually track the flow through of milk and coffee beans to machines, and you also have coffee vending, which is totally different. We looked at the Coffeemanager product and we found it to be ‘best in class’. Having looked at the products of every competitor in the UK marketplace,’ (he names them), ‘we didn’t find anything that had the maturity of Vendmanager and Coffeemanager, in terms of being an exact fit for that market.’
Some of the individuals at SB Software have become familiar faces in the industry, trusted for their knowledge and expertise. It’s clear that they will remain central figures.
‘That goes without saying’, Ravi says. ‘If you think about the two things I’ve mentioned – customer delight and the way the products fit the market – these achievements are down to the work of a very talented team, one that is humble enough to ask customers for feedback, take heed of their input and then work on it, for as long as it takes, in a very meticulous way. SB Software is very detail oriented, only releasing new features into the market after they have been thoroughly tested.
‘So, in Simon and his team, we have acquired that DNA: meticulous, detailed market analysis is the foundation of features that will serve the customer well, developed with a very rigorous methodology, to ensure that any innovation they introduce is proven to be a great product before it leaves the shop.’
For existing SB Software customers, then, it’s clearly ‘business as usual.’
In an industry that’s full of ‘characters’, Ravi fits the bill. Although he was appointed to the board of directors of the National Automatic Merchandising Association (NAMA) in 2023, it’d be a mistake to pigeonhole him as a corporate ‘suit’.
The closest I got to stardom was when I was paid 10,000 rupees and unlimited free beer for four nights playing in a bar!
Ravi studied at Bangalore university, which he describes as ‘being like three lifetimes ago.’ ‘I was there as an undergraduate from 93 to 97. Following that, I went to a business school near Delhi from 98 to 2000 and in between, college. I was partially a drop out case. I tried to make it as a musician for four years; I played jazz guitar and sang a little bit, but the closest I got to stardom was when I was paid 10,000 rupees and unlimited free beer for four nights playing in a bar! I got close to a record deal and all that comes with it, but I wasn’t ready to compromise what I wanted to do. Record company A&R managers – that’s a fancy name for ‘number crunchers’ – were hell-bent on telling me which direction I should take, based solely on what they thought would and wouldn’t sell. I was young and idealistic back then and I fought tooth and nail with them all. It was at that point that it occurred to me that maybe jazz wasn’t a great career choice, so I threw in the towel and went back to school.’
After graduating from business school, (where incidentally, he met his wife), Ravi found a job with a company in Atlanta, US, and the couple emigrated together. ‘Four clicks further down the road, here I am, the CEO of Cantaloupe.’
Not just a muso in his youth, Ravi was also something of a cricketer, qualifying to play for the Delhi Under-16 team; but these days, he doesn’t follow the sport quite as avidly as he used to. ‘I have to admit that I’m not a huge T20 fan’ he says. ‘I prefer the one-day game, but you can’t beat the five-day test format. Maybe that’s a sign that I’m growing old?’
Maybe it is, but it’s a trait that’s in tune with his business ethos: he prefers to be in the game for the long haul…
*There’s much more about Cantaloupe on Planet Vending.
