Flip, the next-generation e-commerce platform combining a TikTok-like discovery experience with a premium e-commerce service, closed a $60 million Series B funding round at a valuation of $500 million.

WHO: Nooruldeen "Noor" Agha, a serial e-commerce entrepreneur, founded Flip in 2019, building an experience that combines the power of social discovery with the convenience of e-commerce in an organic streamlined shopper journey. Shoppers visit Flip as a single destination to discover and learn about products through 60-second videos of user-generated content that are instantly shoppable, with one-click checkout and same-day shipping. Shoppers can then become creators by sharing their video reviews and monetizing them as other users in the community engage and shop through their content.

Flip is also launching a third-party social commerce marketplace to extend access to the platform for independent brands, while enabling a single, trusted destination for shoppers. Emerging brands will now be able to access Flip's social community of shoppers and creators and a full suite of proprietary e-commerce tools. All brand partners will have their own dashboards with insights into their brand performance, including sales data, order management, content engagement, content performance, and more, enabling them to receive instant feedback from a social community of shoppers reviewing their products.

WHY: The company plans to use the funding to expand the team, deepen its brand partnerships, and launch its own third-party social commerce marketplace this summer.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS: "Our thesis from day 1 was that the future of commerce is centered around people. No one sells a product better than the customer that has purchased that product multiple times, and we see that every day on Flip,” said Noor Agha, founder and CEO of Flip. "Through our patented technology that dynamically connects digital content to physical products, we've developed a seamless discovery-to-purchase cycle where users can shop instantly through content, share their own video reviews of products they've purchased, while monetizing their content over time. It's the beginning of the next era in e-commerce."

"Flip has thoughtfully stitched together complex technologies to redefine and elevate the way we discover products and shop online," said Laurence Tosi, founder and Managing Partner at WestCap. "Their cutting-edge social commerce model is here to stay and ready to scale. The beauty industry is a first-mover, but that's just the beginning and we could see other industries follow suit."

"As early investors in Flip, we've been impressed not just by the product, but by the speed of execution and innovation. The company delivers a novel e-commerce solution for today's consumers that has the potential to scale globally. We're happy to partner with the company on that journey," said Ibrahim Ajami, Head of Ventures, Mubadala Capital.

DETAILS:

• Flip closed a $60 million Series B funding round at a valuation of $500 million.
• The funding round was led by WestCap with participation from previous investors Mubadala Capital and Streamlined Ventures, bringing the company's total capital raised to $95 million.
• In September 2021, Flip closed a $28 million Series A funding round led by Streamlined Ventures. Mubadala Capital Ventures and BDMI also participated in the round, alongside early backers and angel investors. Individual investors included Ruby Lu, an early investor in Kuaishou, China's leading social commerce platform.
• Since the beginning of 2022, Flip increased users by 500%, while transactions on the platform grew by over 600%.
• As the lead investor, WestCap will leverage its expertise in scaling and operating leading technology marketplaces, including Airbnb, iCapital, GoodLeap, StubHub, and Hopper.
• Tina Yuan, Vice President of Investments at WestCap, will join Flip's Board of Directors, and Brian Reinken, Partner at WestCap, will serve as a board observer.