Summary of
Base10 Trend: Commerce Enablement Tools for the Retail Industry
Base10 key insights*
- eCommerce penetration has skyrocketed: eCommerce share of retail spend has grown from 6% to 16% to now ~30% and has created billions in market cap for Amazon, Shopify, and the brands that sell on these platforms. This growth has also fueled a lot of internet advertising growth (particularly Facebook and Pinterest) as these new businesses connect with customers digitally.
- There are millions of eCommerce merchants now: Shopify is now a $125B giant with over 1M merchants growing 119% YoY. Mom and pop upstart SMBs and even mature eCommerce retailers doing over $1B of revenue like Fashion Nova and Chubbies, need tools to manage their digital presence.
- eCommerce companies need purpose built software: eCommerce companies specialize in product, customer acquisition, and brand. Most are not true technology companies unless they are infrastructure providers, and this creates a large opportunity for software vendors to sell automation tools to these businesses.
- Agencies are a unique distribution channel for eCommerce SaaS: In addition to the eCommerce end customer, there is a large ecosystem of agencies and integration partners that do this work for eCommerce companies and have acted as a channel partner for companies like NS8 and others.
* Click here to read more about Base10's insights into commerce enablement tools for the retail industry.
Top Companies around the world
3
41
17
Total Companies Identified
In Trend
68
Seed
16
Series A
30
Series B + Growth
22
>500M in Value
3
Number of Companies > $500M Value
Amount of funding ($M)
Cumulative raised ($M)
68 Companies*
Filter by
| Company | Segment | Founders | Stage | Founded | HQ. Location | Amt. Raised | Employees | Key Investors | Base10 Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Customer Support | |||||||||
| Customer support -- Service Desk | Series B + Growth | 2015 | San Francisco, CA | $18M | 61 | Flex Capital, CRV, Amplify Partners, Alven, FLEX Capital Management, SaaStr Fund, Kima Ventures, Alive Ideas | Help desk for Shopify merchants | |
 | Customer support -- reviews | Series A | 2015 | Tel Aviv, Israel | $0M | 13 | None -- bootstrapped | Customization and automated collection of customer reviews | |
| Customer support -- CX | Series A | 2016 | Berlin, Germany | $5M | 45 | Nauta Capital, PIton Capital, Signals Venture Capital | Experience management and NPS management | |
 | Customer support -- reviews | Seed | 2016 | Sydney, Australia | $0M | 22 | None -- bootstrapped | Customization and automated collection of customer reviews | |
 | Customer support -- reviews | Series A | 2015 | Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam | $0M | 17 | None -- bootstrapped | Customization and automated collection of customer reviews | |
 | Customer support -- reviews | Seed | 2016 | Singapore | $0M | 4 | None -- bootstrapped | Customization and automated collection of customer reviews | |
Mobile | |||||||||
| Mobile -- SMS marketing | Series B + Growth | 2016 | New York, NY | $164M | 326 | Sequoia, IVP, Coatue, Eniac, Bain Capital Ventures, Nextview Ventures, Global Equities | SMS marketing for coupons, cart abandonment and exclusives | |
 | Mobile -- SMS marketing | Series A | 2018 | Los Angeles, CA | $10M | 22 | Accomplice, Y Combinator, 1984 Ventures | SMS marketing mainly targetted at mid-market Shopify | |
 | Mobile -- SMS marketing | Series A | 2018 | Austin, TX | $0M | 9 | N/A | N/A | |
 | Mobile -- SMS marketing | Series A | 2018 | Los Angeles, CA | $8M | 27 | Mucker Capital, TenOneTen Ventures, Buffalo Ventures, Floodgate | SMS marketing across Shopify, Magento, etc. and mid-market focused | |
 | Mobile -- SMS marketing | Seed | 2019 | Los Angeles, CA | $0.6M | 15 | Guild Capital | SMS marketing across Shopify, Magento, etc.; half inbound and half outbound focused on upper mid-market | |
 | Mobile -- SMS marketing | Series A | 2018 | Boston, MA | $0M | 16 | Yotpo, Eleven Ventures | SMS for Shopify and GTM through app store (Acquired by Yotpo) | |
 | Mobile -- SMS marketing | Series A | 2017 | Boston, MA | $2M | 15 | Bling Capital, Techstars | SMS marketing mainly targetted at mid-market Shopify | |
 | Mobile -- Push notifications | Series B + Growth | 2014 | San Francisco, CA | $32M | 60 | SignalFire, Y Combinator, Rakuten Capital, Auren Hoffman | Mobile + web push notifications and engagement platform | |
 | Mobile -- Push notifications | Series A | 2017 | Austin, TX | $0M | 41 | None -- bootstrapped | Mobile + web push provider that sells into adtech and ecommerce | |
 | Mobile -- Push notifications | Seed | 2016 | Bangalore, India | $0M | 13 | None -- bootstrapped | Mobile + web push for Shopify | |
Multi-channel Marketing | |||||||||
 | Multi-channel marketing | Series B + Growth | 2012 | Boston, MA | $159M | 422 | Accomplice, Astral Capital, Summit Partners | Leading email marketing automation SaaS for ecommerce | |
| Multi-channel marketing | Series A | 2014 | London, England | $0M | 60 | None -- bootstrapped | All-in-one marketing automation including email and SMS | |
 | Multi-channel marketing | Series B + Growth | 2011 | New York, NY | $101M | 441 | Vintage Investment Partners, Blumberg Capital, Market, Vertext Ventrues, Access Industries, Rhodium, Bessemer Venture Partners | Commerce marketing cloud for reviews, loyalty and referrals | |
 | Multi-channel marketing | Series B + Growth | 2013 | Helsinki, Finland | $0M | N/A | Inventure, Evli Growth Partners, KoppiCatch | N/A | |
 | Multi-channel marketing | Series A | 2015 | Portland, OR | $0M | 22 | Starve Ups | Cart abandonment, and checkout optimization / payments software | |
 | Multi-channel marketing | Seed | 2016 | Atlanta, GA | $0M | 6 | None -- bootstrapped | Cart abandonment with SMS and push | |
 | Multi-channel marketing | Seed | San Diego, CA | $0M | N/A | N/A | N/A | ||
 | Multi-channel marketing | Series B + Growth | Vienna, Austria | $0M | N/A | Vector Capital | N/A | ||
 | Multi-channel marketing | Seed | 2017 | Melbourne, Australia | $1M | 13 | Blackbird Ventures | Email marketing automation SaaS, competes with Klaviyo | |
Store design | |||||||||
 | Store design | Series B + Growth | 2015 | San Francisco, CA | $12M | 142 | Initialized Capital, Y Combinator, VMG Partners, Pioneer Fund, FundersClub | Drag and drop website builder for ecommerce platforms | |
 | Store design | Series A | 2017 | Los Angeles, CA | $14M | 35 | Greycroft, SignalFire, Amplify.LA, Act One Ventures, Luma Launch | Mobile app builder and app marketplace for mobile commerce on Shopify | |
 | Pop ups SMS and email | Series B + Growth | 2012 | Boston, MA | $7M | 77 | Accomplice, Tuhaye Venture Partners, Mike Volpe | Ecommerce marketing automation including email, pop ups and promotions like abandoned cart | |
 | Store design | Series A | 2017 | Eindhoven, The Netherlands | $0M | 29 | None -- bootstrapped | Visual eCommerce platform that allows for product customization like 3D, AR and others | |
Business Analytics and Data | |||||||||
 | Business Analytics and Data | Series A | 2016 | Denver, CO | $8M | 18 | Foundation Capital, Allbirds, Warby Parker, Intercept Ventures, Boomtown Accelerators, Zelkova Ventures, Rainfall Ventures, Harry's, Gradient Ventures | Data control center to aggregate data and manage business | |
 | Business Analytics and Data | Series A | 2017 | San Diego, CA | $2M | 30 | Cove Fund, Mooring Ventures, 1855 Capital Partners, Okapi Venture Capital, Serra Ventures | Analytics platform for D2C brands to do ETL and visualization | |
 | Business Analytics and Data | Seed | 2019 | New York, NY | $1M | 3 | Accomplice, Eniac | Data warehouse, ETL and visualization for Shopify | |
 | Business Analytics and Data | Series A | 2015 | Charlotte, NC | $0M | 33 | None -- bootstrapped | Business intelligence designed for eCommerce | |
 | Business Analytics and Data | Series A | 2018 | Seattle, WA | $7M | 20 | Defy.vc, Voyager Capital, Alliance of Angels, Stage Venture Partners | Mid-market to enterprise data platform | |
 | Business Analytics and Data | Seed | 2018 | Augsburg, Germany | $0M | 27 | None -- bootstrapped | ERP for eCommerce businesses | |
| Business Analytics and Data | Series A | 2015 | Ottawa, Canada | $0M | 33 | None -- bootstrapped | Data backup for eCommerce and apps | |
Sourcing & procurement | |||||||||
 | Sourcing and Procurement | Seed | 2018 | Austin, TX | $3.3M | 19 | Silverton Partners, ATX Venture Partners, Capital Factory | Product design and sourcing supplier network | |
 | Sourcing and Procurement | Seed | 2017 | San Diego, CA | $0M | N/A | Invariantes Fund, FoundersX Ventures, 1984 Ventures, Tech Coast Angels, VentureSouq, Y Combinator, Right Side Capital Management, EvoNexus | N/A | |
 | Sourcing and Procurement | Seed | 2014 | London, England | $0M | N/A | CrowdCube, Dolphin Finance Corporation, Ascension Ventures, Circularity Capital, Plug and Play, Maersk Growth | N/A | |
Website optimization + personalization | |||||||||
| Website optimization + personalization | Series B + Growth | 2013 | Helsinki, Finland | $15M | 131 | Wellington Partners, Tekes | Personalization on-site for segmentation and insights | |
 | Website optimization + personalization | Series A | 2011 | San Francisco, CA | $0M | 43 | None -- bootstrapped | Conversion suite with on-site personalization and pop ups | |
 | Website optimization + personalization | Series A | 2016 | San Mateo, CA | $10M | 33 | Amplify Partners, Homebrew, Precursor | Automatically optimizes websites for customer acquisition | |
 | Website optimization + personalization | Series A | 2017 | Austin, TX | $2M | 21 | Y Combinator, Liquid2 | Relevant personalized websites for eCommerce | |
 | Website optimization + personalization | Series B + Growth | 2010 | Boston, MA | $64M | 83 | Intel Capital, GC, Stata | Improve speed and reliability for eCommerce and optimize performance | |
 | Website optimization + personalization | Seed | 2014 | Stockholm, Sweden | $0M | 18 | None -- bootstrapped | Sell more with personalization and ecommerce search + discovery | |
 | Website optimization + personalization | Series A | 2016 | Munich, Germany | $0M | 31 | None -- bootstrapped | Dynamic personalization and A/B testing | |
 | Website optimization + personalization | Seed | 2014 | Aarhus, Denmark | $1M | 33 | Friends and family | Engage visitors with on-site messages | |
Loyalty and Referrals | |||||||||
 | Loyalty and Referrals | Series A | 2012 | London, England | $0M | 43 | None -- bootstrapped | Leading loyalty and customer engagement tool | |
| Loyalty and Referrals | Series A | 2012 | Waterloo, Canada | $0M | 56 | None -- bootstrapped | Loyalty programs to encourage repeat customer behavior | |
 | Loyalty and Referrals | Seed | 2015 | Tel Aviv, Israel | $0M | 18 | None -- bootstrapped | Gift card and store credit cards for online brands | |
Payments and fintech | |||||||||
 | Payments and Fintech | Series B + Growth | 2016 | Las Vegas, NV | $158M | 218 | Lightspeed, Edison Partners, Axa, Sorenson | Payments and fraud prevention SaaS for eCommerce | |
| Payments and Fintech | Series B + Growth | 2015 | Santa Monica, CA | $0M | 171 | None -- bootstrapped | Subscription payments service for Shopify | |
 | Payments and Fintech | Series B + Growth | 2011 | San Francisco, CA | $38M | 408 | Insight, Tiger, Accel, Steadview | Subscription payments service | |
 | Payments and Fintech | Series B + Growth | 2014 | San Francisco, CA | $140M | 197 | Long Venture Partners, Activant, WestCap | developer of an online payment platform used to drive eCommerce | |
 | Payments and Fintech | Series B + Growth | 2019 | Herzliya, Israel | $69M | 108 | Oak HC/FT, Hanaco, GreatPoint Ventures | SaaS to prevent customer hijacking in eComm | |
Insurance | |||||||||
 | Insurance | Series B + Growth | 2018 | Lehi, UT | $12M | 228 | Album VC, Pattern | Insurance for package delivery for eComm | |
 | Insurance | Series B + Growth | 2019 | San Francisco, CA | $17M | 65 | GreatPoint Ventures, Michael Arrieta | Extended warranties for eCommerce | |
 | Insurance | Series A | 2017 | New York, NY | $17M | 27 | Spark Capital, Red Sea Ventures, RRE | SMB insurance for merchants | |
Supply Chain | |||||||||
| Supply chain | Series A | 2014 | London, England | $1M | 54 | Maersk Growth, Circularity Capital | Helps retailers manage returns | |
 | Supply chain | Series B + Growth | 2017 | Great Lakes, MI | $11M | 50 | Firstmark, Lerer Hippeau, Ridge Ventures | Helps retailers manage returns | |
 | Supply chain | Series B + Growth | 2012 | The Netherlands | $8M | 190 | Bom Bradant, HenQ, TIIN | Shipping as an API | |
 | Supply chain | Jon Calhoun | Series B + Growth | 2012 | San Francisco, CA | $12M | 190 | Initialized Capital, Y Combinator | Shipping as an API |
 | Supply chain | Series A | 2017 | New York, NY | $11M | 50 | Redpoint, First Round, Grand Central Tech | Supply chain tracking for eCommerce | |
| Supply chain | Series A | 2017 | Vancouver, Canada | $2M | 35 | Panache, Techstars | Dropshipping marketplace | |
 | Supply chain | Series A | 2015 | Lithuania | $0M | 57 | None -- bootstrapped | Dropshipping marketplace | |
 | Supply chain | Series A | 2017 | San Jose, CA | $0M | 19 | None -- bootstrapped | White-label supply chain tracking for eCommerce merchants | |
 | Supply chain | Seed | 2018 | London, England | $3M | 13 | Base10, Harlem, Hyde Park, High Alpha | White-label supply chain tracking for eCommerce merchants | |
 | Supply chain | Series B + Growth | 2015 | Los Angeles, CA | $25M | 68 | Paypal, USVP, Upfront | Returns solution for eCommerce and omnichannel retailers | |
* Click here to view a selection of these companies in market map format.
Most Active Investors
| Firm or Investor | Investments | Check Range ($M) | Key People |
|---|---|---|---|
| Y Combinator | OneSignal, Shogun, Tapcart, Sourcify, Proof | $0-$50 | N/A |
| Accomplice | Klaviyo, Postscript, Nacelle, Peel Insights | $0-$10 | TJ Mahony |
| Base10 | Malomo, Wise | $0-$10 | Chris Zeoli, Rexhep Dollaku |
| Techstars | Spocket, Tone SMS | $0-$10 | N/A |
| SignalFire | OneSignal, Tapcart | $0-$30 | Chris Farmer |
| Initialized Capital | Shogun, Easypost | $0-$10 | Garry Tan |
| Y Combinator | OneSignal, Shogun, Tapcart, Sourcify, Proof | $0-$50 | N/A |
| Harlem Capital | Malomo | $0-$10 | Henri Pierre-Jacques |
| IVP | Attentive | $10-$100 | Tom Loverro |
| Sequoia | Attentive | $10-$500 | Pat Grady |
Investors in Top Companies
| Firm or Investor | Investments | Check Range ($M) | Key People |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sequoia | Attentive | $10-$500 | Pat Grady |
| IVP | Attentive | $10-$100 | Tom Loverro |
| Coatue | Attentive | $0-$500 | Thomas Laffont |
| Flex Capital | Gorgias | $0-$30 | Auren Hoffman |
| SaaStr | Gorgias | $0-$10 | Jason Lemkin |
| Accomplice | Klaviyo, Postscript | $0-$10 | TJ Mahony |
| Y Combinator | PostScript | $0-$50 | N/A |
| Summit Partners | Klaviyo | $0-$500 | Michael Medici |
| SignalFire | Tapcart | $0-$30 | Chris Farmer |
| Floodgate | Emotive | $0-$10 | Mike Maples |
| TenOneTen | Emotive | N/A | N/A |
| Mucker Capital | Emotive | N/A | N/A |
Disclaimers: This is not meant to be comprehensive, just our view of how this trend is evolving and the interesting approaches to solving these problems in the trend. If you would like to be included and we missed you, please shoot us a note at companies@base10.vc.