Emperia, a startup based in London, just raised more than €9 million to rethink the retail industry. The youthful startup wants to enable merchants to create virtual stores by bringing retail to the metaverse.
Base10 Partners served as the round’s leader in raising the money in a Series A round. Daphni (via its retail fund Dastore), Sony Innovation Fund, Background Capital, Stanford Capital Partners, Concept Ventures, and business angel Jay Radia are among the additional investors.
E-commerce has rapidly swept the globe. Online shopping has quickly established itself as the norm, and businesses of all shapes, sizes and locations now make use of their online presence. As consumers, we adopted e-commerce rather rapidly, and subsequent generations are now accustomed to the procedure. The metaverse, however, may represent the start of a new era.
The London-based Emperia is on a quest to expand the parameters of online commerce and hasten the uptake of “metaverse eCommerce.” The firm, founded in 2019 by Simonas Holcmann, a VR innovation expert, and fashion and retail expert Olga Dogadkina, has just received more capital and plans to grow.
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For brands in various retail sectors, Emperia has developed a platform that enables the production of immersive virtual experiences. Utilizing both the impact of in-person retail and the accessibility of e-commerce, the goal is to combine the best of both worlds. The firm provides retailers with the technical and visual framework they require to create and maintain robust virtual storefronts to achieve this.
According to Olga Dogadkina, CEO and co-founder of Emperia, “While working in the fashion industry, it became obvious to me that e-commerce was the future, but 2D websites were only a tool that facilitated an online purchase, lacking the customer experience and story-telling that businesses are wanting. The answer was to close that gap to turn virtual experiences into the long-term e-commerce strategy of brands.
These digital environments improve the omnichannel retail strategy by adding fresh digital touchpoints that boost interaction and boost sales. Since its launch in 2019, the innovative business claims it has increased conversion rates for its brand partners by an average of 73% (vs conventional e-commerce websites), with an average ROI of 750%.
Olga Dogadkina: “We strongly believe in data reliance, therefore we incorporate analytics into the design, layout, user experience, and product placement of all of our virtual experiences. Importantly, we’re doing this in a way that can be seen as affecting brand perception, revenue, traffic, and engagement.
“As Emperia continues its international expansion and develops the next generation of e-commerce,” Olga continued, “I’m convinced that the pool of participating investors in this round, from both the U.S. and Europe, will make for a tremendous network of advisers. I’m excited to provide our brand partners with an even more memorable experience.
The team, which has offices in London and New York, has so far collaborated with well-known retailers like Bloomingdales, Dior, Sunglass Hut, and Lacoste. Emperia aspires to bring the power of the metaverse to retail, revolutionizing how the next generation of digital natives will shop in the future. This power is luring customers of all sizes and markets.
The young business intends to expand its team, build up its virtual shop SaaS platform, and enhance the capabilities of the data suite that powers it with this fresh capital. By doing this, Emperia will be able to expand its global market presence and establish itself as a key player in this developing industry.
“When we met Olga and Simon, we were completely astounded by the high-quality team they had already put together and the business’ early traction,” says Luci Fonseca of Base10 Partners. “More and more, as we conversed with customers, it became clear that Emperia is poised to usher in a global transformation in how customers engage with businesses.”
“Emperia can be viewed through the perspective of the “web 2.5,” which is a bridge that allows marketers to interact with a new generation of consumers while fostering real commerce. We’re thrilled to be working with a company that is genuinely developing for the future of e-commerce because Emperia is leading the development of virtual shop construction and management,” added Luci Fonseca.
Image Credit: Emperia
