With a platform that enables ecommerce brands to build a high-end webshop without any technical knowledge, Instant Commerce has just secured €2 million and is now looking to expand.
The ecommerce industry is rapidly growing and it’s now fair to say that the vast majority of businesses operate online in some capacity. Consumers demand the ability to check out products and services online, pay and order online and interact online. Building an online presence is crucial in the digital age, however, building that presence can be a tricky task.
Making it easier, by developing a next-generation headless storefront builder, Dutch startup Instant Commerce has just picked up €2 million in a pre-seed funding round led by firstminute capital. The founders of Storyblok, Wandera, Snyk and Supercell also contributed to the round.
Based in Amsterdam, the platform enables brands to quickly build a highly functional and engaging headless webshop without the need for technical expertise or a costly development team thanks to its no-code approach. Founded only in 2022, the startup has already landed more than 30 major clients including Bols, ID&T, Ekster, and Yaya.
Coen Van Hees, Founder and CEO of Instant Commerce, explained: “Consumer expectations of the functionality and services online retailers should offer has grown exponentially over the past few years. This race to make online storefronts more engaging has led to much higher costs, strained infrastructure and a severe drain on resources. For many companies, it’s simply too costly to compete. This is the problem Instant Commerce solves. By making building and maintaining a headless storefront as simple and cost-effective as possible, we give power back to business owners.”
The Instant Commerce platform does what it says on the tin as the saying goes. It makes ecommerce available instant for brands. It integrates with a variety of different systems like Shopify, Storyblok, Algolia and more using APIs – making it accessible to all. Further, owing to the headless approach (which means the frontend and backend are separated), brands can finally deliver on the expectation of today’s consumers: fast-site speed, omnichannel presence, a unique shopping experience and more.
Coen Van Hees added: “There’s a huge demand for our platform. In only four short months we’ve secured more than 30 clients including big names like Bols and ID&T. Now, with the support of Firstminute Capital and our Angel Investors we’ll be able to rapidly expand our team, platform and start preparations for entering more international markets.”
The young team have quickly developed a service that enables ecommerce companies of any size to compete with the online offering of the world’s biggest brands at the fraction of the cost and time – claiming to cut the build time of a webshop drop from four months to less than a week and significantly reducing costs in the process.
Sam Endacott at firstminute capital, said: “We believe the future of web development and e-commerce is headless and have had a front-row seat in this category with our investments in Storyblok and Nuxt. However, the missing link has been a software layer to co-ordinate the ecosystem of APIs from the front-end that can be used by both non-technical users and developers. The Instant Commerce team have experienced this pain-point directly having built a highly successful e-commerce Agency before working with major global brands. Their first product – a no-code solution to help e-commerce teams go headless without technical expertise – is just the first step in what we think can be a major platform in facilitating the next wave of e-commerce growth.”
The new capital will be used to double the team, further develop the platform and build brand awareness throughout Europe.
