Customer lifetime value (CLV) is the single most important metric for understanding customer behavior. It’s nearly impossible to understand the impact of your marketing efforts and predict profitability without a focus on CLV. Retina is a customer intelligence platform that leverages AI and data analytics to understand CLV before a customer makes a purchase. Supported by better decisioning, high-growth businesses are able to target the right audience, segment, make product decisions, and drive conversions by integrating Retina into their operations. The Santa Monica-based company is trusted by companies like Penrose Hill, Ritual, Dollar Shave Club, and Nestle. LA TechWatch caught up with Cofounder and CEO Emad Hasan to learn more about how Retina is driving customer acquisition, the company’s strategic plans, latest round of funding by Alpha Intelligence Capital and Vertical Venture Partners.
E-Commerce
Tapcart Raises $50M for its Platform That Lets Shopify Users Seamlessly Build Mobile Apps and More
The global market for mobile commerce is expected to balloon to $6.1T by 2027 from $1.9T in 2020. The pandemic has fundamentally shifted the way consumers look at e-commerce as lockdowns limited in-person activity. Businesses have had to adapt their digital strategies to address this growing interest as mobile becomes a significant driver of revenue growth. Shopify is the leading all-in-one platform for brands, small businesses, and entrepreneurs alike to establish digital storefronts. Tapcart is the mobile commerce platform that enables Shopify merchants to launch their own full-featured mobile apps – a much-needed complement in today’s digital landscape. While many e-commerce merchants have become overly reliant on paid digital, Tapcart’s easy-to-use drag and drop solution offers cost-efficient push notifications to merchants with plans to launch other value-add tools like marketing automation, personalization, and developer kits. During the uncertainty of the pandemic, the Santa Monica-based company was able to grow revenue 3x, handling mobile sale transactions exceeding $1.3B in gross merchandise value (GMV) for brands like Pier One Imports and FIGS. LA TechWatch caught up with CEO and Founder Eric Netsch to learn more about the inspiration for the business, the company’s strategic plans, and latest round of funding from investors that include Left Lane Capital, Shopify, SignalFire, Greycroft, Act One Ventures, and Amplify.LA.
Sunbit Scores Another $130M for its Buy Now, Pay Later Platform for Everyday Services and Becomes LA’s Newest Unicorn
Platforms like Klarna and Affirm have popularized buy it now, pay later platforms to distribute payments over time for e-commerce purchases. Sunbit is the buy now, pay later platform that brings the flexibility and ease of these payments for everyday services like optical care, dental visits, automobile maintenance, and election healthcare. Transactions, for amounts as low as $60 to as high as $10K, can be approved for the flexible solution within 30-seconds in 7300+ locations. LA TechWatch caught up with Cofounder and CEO Arad Levertov to learn more about how Sunbit’s platform brings consumers peace of mind with the ability to pay over time, the company’s strategic plans, and latest round of funding from investors that include Group 11, Zeev Ventures, Migdal Insurance, Harel Group, AltaIR Capital, and More Investment House.
PayPal Acquires Happy Returns and Eyes Post-Purchase Service to Boost Online Shopping
Happy Returns, the in-person return logistics provider for online purchases, has been acquired by Paypal. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
ReCharge Raises $277M for its E-Commerce Subscription Management Software Thats’ the Secret Weapon for Merchants
Recurring revenue is the holy grail for businesses, bringing revenue predictability, deepened customer relationships, and high customer lifetime values. Successfully retaining customers leads to lower acquisition costs in the long term and reduced churn. Given the benefits, SaaS solutions have widely moved to subscription offerings and e-commerce businesses are also jumping in on the trend. The global subscription economy for e-commerce is expected to grow to ~$250B by 2025. ReCharge is a subscription management platform built specifically for e-commerce merchants to capitalize on this growth. Bootstrapped since its founding, the company just raised its first institutional round after growing 91% in 2020. The 15,00+ merchants using Recharge’s checkout solution include Hubble, Harry’s Art of Sport, Fiji, and Oatly. LA TechWatch caught up with CEO and Cofounder Oisin O’Connor to more about the experience of initially bootstrapping, the company’s impressive traction, the state of the e-commerce market, and recent round of funding from investors that include Summit Partners, ICONIQ Growth, and Bain Capital Ventures.
Retina Makes Understanding Customer Lifetime Value Possible Even Before a Sale
Customer lifetime value (CLV) is the single most important metric for understanding your customers and their behavior. Without a solid understanding of it, it becomes nearly impossible to understand your marketing efforts and predict profitability. Retina is leveraging AI and data analytics to understand CLV before a customer makes a purchase for high-growth consumer companies. According to its data, the customer intelligence platform is able to lift CLV by 44%, generating 8x more return on ad spend while improving marketing efficiency by 30%. Presently, the platform is focused on companies that are doing ~$10M in revenue but plans to roll out its offering to mid-sized businesses is in the works. The level of specialized data that Retina is able to provide has traditionally been reserved for large companies with entire in-house data teams. LA TechWatch caught up with Cofounder and CEO Emad Hasan to learn more about the company’s mission to democratize the access to data that drives high-value sales, future plans, the LA Tech ecosystem, and much, much more.
Arrive Outdoors Raises $4.75M for its Outdoor Gear Rental Platform That Delivers to Your Doorstep
The sharing economy is making the concept of ownership obsolete for many categories. Rachelle Snyder and her cofounder had to go through the difficult process of deciding which of their belongings to take with them during a cross country move and their outdoor gear just couldn’t be accommodated. The experience of trying to obtain gear once in LA led to the foundation for launching Arrive Outdoors, the rental company for premium, outdoor equipment that can deliver an assortment of outdoor gear straight to a consumer’s door. Rachelle shares some insight about how the company makes the exploration of the outdoors more accessible and the company’s recent seed funding round from investors that include Freestyle Capital Science Inc., AVG Basecamp Fund, Corigin Ventures, Pine5 Ventures, and James Reinhart and John Voris.
Scalefast Raises $22M to be the Shopify for Brands
The most common mistake brands make is believing that running an online store simply equals having an e-commerce platform. However, successful brands know that building, operating, and scaling a direct-to-consumer channel requires so much more than that. Multiple departments need to align with the right infrastructure, expertise, tools, and operations – something that, traditionally, retailers were bringing to the table, not brands. Scalefast is the all-in-one e-commerce solution that enables brands to launch, manage, and maintain their own direct-to-consumer platform. CEO Nicolas Stehle walks us through the company’s inspiration, traction, and funding round from investors that include FJ Labs, Xplorer Capital, Benhamou Global Ventures, Stereo Capital, and Adara Ventures
Outer Raises $4.3M to Bring Style and Sustainability to Outdoor Furniture
With COVID-19 spreading rapidly throughout the nation, summer travel plans have been halted and people are planning to spend more time at home and in their backyards. The demand for outdoor furniture, grills, and patio heaters is surging. Outer is an innovative direct-to-consumer outdoor furniture brand that’s meeting this demand. CEO and Cofounder Jiake Liu walks us through how the brand is adapting to the pandemic, the company’s plan to expand its line, and latest funding round from prominent LA investors and operators that include Mucker Capital, Wavemaker, George Ruan, Eddy Lu, Nick Green, Ariel Kaye, and Mark Geller.
Cake Raises $1.435M for Its All-Inclusive Sexual Wellness Brand
Cake, a direct-to-consumer startup, is taking on the sexual wellness product. Its first product, a line of lubricants, is available for delivery straight to your door, eliminating the awkwardness of visiting the drug store to get confusing, outdated, and intimidating products that in no way are designed for modern sexuality. CEO and Cofounder Hunter Morris shares more on the company’s inspiration, future plans, and recent funding round from investors that include Brand Foundry Ventures, Finn Capital, and several notable angels.
ettitude Raises $1.6M to for its Super Soft Line of Bedding Essentials Made with Bamboo
ettitude is a sustainable lifestyle brand offering home essentials that are soft on your skin and gentle on our planet using its proprietary CleanBamboo fabric. Cofounders Phoebe Yu and Kat Dey share their experience on raising capital in the midst of the pandemic, the company’s future plans, and direct-to-consumer offering.