NEWS

Popup secures $3.5M pre-seed round to launch game-changing no-code e-commerce platform for entrepreneurs of all sizes

While technology, consumer shopping behavior, and online engagement have evolved dramatically over the last decades, e-commerce has failed to keep up with innovations and trends in social media, live streaming, conversational and cross-border commerce, or virtual shopping. 

Tired of the constraints of this one-size-fits-all blueprint – the homepage, collection pages, product pages, and checkout – entrepreneurs, creators, and brands want to push the boundaries, innovate and scale their stores. 

This is why we are excited to back Popup, a no-code e-commerce platform for merchants of all sizes, on a mission to change that. Founded by Matteo Grassi and Corey Holmes, former co-workers at Shopify, Popup is a fresh spin on e-commerce platforms. 

The company offers a modular, customizable platform for sellers to serve their unique customers anywhere in the world. Recognising that most shoppers’ journeys aren’t linear, Popup enables sellers to direct consumers to multiple entry points and pathways to purchase. 

Popup Stores allow sellers to visually control the customer journey – creating powerful sales journeys and unique, personalized experiences that convert visitors into paying customers. On the backend, Popup offers the ability to optimize workflows by automating tasks and helping marketers to A/B test pages, journeys, checkout, and more. Thus, they provide actionable data that sellers can use to improve their customers’ experience. 

Popup’s visual drag-and-drop Journey Builder helps sellers set up their stores to guide customers through the entire buying process. The no-code, modular approach to page sections allows sellers to uniquely customize their site to their brand and customers’ needs.

Frustrated with creating short-term fixes on existing e-commerce platforms, Holmes and Grassi recognized that the industry was broken and decided to change it. “The experience was clunky and not intuitive at all for both the creator and the customer,” explains Holmes. “Especially for businesses who lack the budget for a completely custom commerce solution, there hasn’t been much choice. The back-ends are archaic, and the front-ends seem amateur. Businesses are struggling to compete.” 

He adds: “When we started building Popup we knew it couldn’t just be another bandaid app that sits on top of an existing platform. We had to build entirely new commerce capabilities that enable people to do things once considered impossible. Enabling them to build unique, personalized experiences while having control over the customer journey.

With Popup, entrepreneurs, creators, and brands are (…) given the flexibility to ignite their imagination and redefine what is possible.” 

Alongside its commerce technology, Popup has created a community for those inspired by entrepreneurship to gather, learn, mentor, and network. They also launched Popup TV, an entertaining, educational, and thought-provoking channel dedicated to redefining entrepreneurship through original content. 

Grassi emphasizes the two-fold vision for Popup: “We’re entrepreneurs and we serve a community of entrepreneurs. There is nothing more gratifying than to provide a platform that businesses of all sizes can use…and use well. Popup will enable businesses with what they need to compete. And we’re creating better shopping experiences along the way for everyone. It’s a win-win.” 

On why we invested, our Managing Partner Carlos Espinal comments:

“The number of e-commerce entrepreneurs is booming, while consumer behaviours are constantly changing. We are excited to back Matteo and Corey, two e-commerce veterans with a strong entrepreneurial and creative spirit and a keen sense for customers’ needs. We believe Popup will be a game-changer for the online commerce industry.” 

Popup raised $3.5M in pre-seed round funding led by Accel, joined by us, 20VC, Sam Parr (The Hustle & My First Million Podcast), Kieran Flanagan (SVP of Marketing at Hubspot), Johnny Boufarhat (Founder & CEO of Seedcamp-backed Hopin), Alex Zaccaria (Founder of Linktree), Jeff Weiser (Ex-CMO of Shopify), Blair Beckwith (Ex-Head of partnerships of Shopify), and others. The funding will be used to launch Popup, grow the team, and invest in marketing and partnerships. 

To learn more about Popup and join the waitlist, visit popup.store.

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