Popshop Live, a livestreaming shopping app at the intersection of social, e-commerce, and entertainment, secured $3 million in seed funding, bringing the total amount raised to $4.5 million.
WHO: Founded by Danielle Li, Popshop Live is paving the way for a new retail format built to grow in a pandemic and post-pandemic world. With Popshop Live, sellers can create and host their own shopping channel on the platform directly to a national audience in real-time. From independently owned small businesses, to large multi-brand retailers and influencers, Popshop Live helps businesses of all sizes grow their revenue and reach.
WHY: To create a platform that combines social media, e-commerce, and entertainment to help retailers build an online community and grow their sales.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS: “The best brands today provide multi-touch shopping experiences and most have a media component with a tribe-like following,” said Danielle Li, founder and CEO of Popshop Live. “The brands that will stand out in the future will offer their customers experiences beyond products and content, mainly emotional connections and a sense of community. Our vision is to empower the next generation of sellers with the tools needed to provide this to their followers. Shopping will soon be the outcome and physical manifestation of the experience.”
“Consumers have evolved beyond scroll and click online product feeds and are hungry for more experiential online shopping and Popshop Live is the first product that fully delivers,” said Ann Miura-Ko, co-founding partner at Floodgate, a seed-stage venture capital firm that has backed companies like Lyft, Twitch, and Twitter. “Danielle and the Popshop Live team have created the best consumer shopping experience at a time when community and virtual connectedness are needed more than ever.”
“Popshop Live is ridiculously fun. I was hooked the first time I tried it as a shopper and couldn’t wait to start my own show,” said Cyan Banister, partner at Long Journey Ventures. “In five shows I generated $5K for charities by selling things from my personal collections. I know this is the future of retail and the team behind Popshop Live is incredible. They genuinely care about businesses and their customers.”
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