Industry leading ecommerce platform Shopify plans to use the capital to attract world-class talent, consider strategic acquisitions, and create a fund to fuel its thriving App community.
OTTAWA, Ontario, Oct. 17, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Shopify, a leading ecommerce platform used to create and power online stores, today announced that it closed a $15 million Series B growth investment from Bessemer Venture Partners, FirstMark Capital, Felicis Ventures, and Georgian Partners. This new investment adds to the $7 million of Series A funding received last year, providing a sizable balance to fund continued growth.
Tobias Lutke, Shopify’s CEO and co-founder, launched the company in 2006 after he discovered how difficult it was to create a professional online store. Today, over 15,000 active online stores in 80 countries are powered by Shopify. Individuals, entrepreneurs, and businesses use Shopify to setup and power their online stores. Shopify’s product is known for its focus on ease of use, beautiful store designs, and scalability.
“The overwhelming majority of businesses are not yet selling online because the tools available have historically been complex and expensive,” said Bessemer Venture Partners’ Trevor Oelschig. “Shopify is working to change this by building beautiful products that are easy for businesses to use. Shopify’s rapid growth and customer success speaks to the power of Shopify’s platform and we are excited to be involved as they continue to expand.”
“This large investment will allow us to aggressively expand operations with a focus on three areas of growth. First, we’re looking to continue hiring the best developers and designers in the world. Second, we would like to open the door to strategic partnerships and acquisitions. Lastly, we will provide seed funding to developers looking to build apps that integrate with the Shopify platform,” said Lutke.
With the announcement of the funding also comes the official launch of “The Shopify Fund.” This $1 million dollar fund will be used to encourage and finance developers to create ecommerce add-ons that plug into the Shopify platform. Nearly one hundred such Apps have already been created by individuals, startups, and established businesses like QuickBooks, MailChimp, Hubspot, and Olark. More information on The Shopify Fund can be found atwww.shopify.com/fund .
Shopify’s merchants span from budding entrepreneurs to major brands like Angry Birds, General Electric, Tata, Tesla Motors, Amnesty International, DODOcase, CrossFit, Evisu, LMFAO, Beastie Boys, and The Foo Fighters. “We looked at a number of different ecommerce options, but Shopify made the most sense,” said Niklas Kari, Angry Birds’ Head of Retail, “We had strong recommendations from other partners, and setting up the store was easy.” Rovio recently announced they have sold over 2 million Angry Birds plush toys.
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