Third Wave Fashion // MARCH 2014 // THE FIT TECH ISSUE | Page 30
S H OW M E
THE MONEY
Other location-based funding came in
with Dondé ($1M) and PayNearMe
($20M). ough Dondé helps users
find the products and stores they want,
PayNearMe steps beyond location
platforms, and allows online customers
to pay cash. e concept is brilliant,
instead of paying with a credit card or
debit card, customers select the
PayNearMe option, and pay cash at a
selected location like a participating 7eleven. ough the platform was
developed primarily for payments like
bills, rent and loans, the option for
online shopping to exist with cash
transactions only opens the door for
broader markets, like those of our
European peers who don’t use credit
cards nearly as much as Americans.
always social. Easy Social Shop, based
in Tel Aviv, operates similar to other
“small vendor” platforms like TicTail
($8M) and Etsy, with one major
difference… Facebook integration.
In addition to the apps and services
that saw investments this month, a
number of discovery platforms from
around the world were also funded.
Tapiture ($2.25M) and Easy Social
Shop ($1.1M) both focused on the
essence of shopping, which as we know
thanks to founder Liza Kindred, is
Tapiture, a membership-based
platform, focuses on providing sales
discovery to their community, which
seems like a cross between Hautelook
and Tumblr. Considering the
popularity and ease of community
building that Tumblr has provided
“Technology is
advancing at terminal
velocity, and if a
company can’t keep
up, customers will
move to a company
that can.”
though, Tapiture may be onto
something.
To wrap all of that information up
nicely, February had investments all
over the board, from all over the world.
e one thing that burgeoning markets,
payment services and platforms has in
common though, is that customers are
getting smarter and expect to find what
they want. As the industry moves
forward, it is essential that companies
look at the searchability of and access
to their products. Technology is
advancing at terminal velocity, and if a
company can’t keep up, customers will
move to a company that can.
!
DON’T FORGET
TO DO YOUR
TECH CRUNCHES
ON PAGE 6!
INVESTMENT BREAKDOWN | WHICH COMPANIES WERE INVESTED IN FEBRUARY: ECOMMERA (Series C) London, UK, $41M,
Investors - Dawn Capital, ePlanet Ventures, Frog Captial, West Coast Capital, Western Technology Investment, WPP | TICTAIL (Series A)
Stockholm, Sweden, $8M, Investors - Thrive Capital, Balderton Capital | TAILORED FIT (Seed) PA, US, $25K, Investors - Alpha Lab |
OUTFITTERY (Venture) Berlin, Germany, $16.7M, Investors - Highland Capital Partners, RI Digital Ventures, Holtzbinck Ventures, Mangrove
Capital Partners,