Sand Hill Angels is a group of Silicon Valley angel investors passionate about helping entrepreneurs get to the next level. What makes the group unique is the collective experience of its members building and scaling deep technology companies. The group has been around for more than two decades. Sand Hill Angels works openly and collaboratively with venture capital funds, other angel organizations, and the Bay Area ecosystem that fosters the growth of technology startups.  For additional information, visit www.sandhillangels.com or follow @SandHillAngels.com on Twitter.

Sand Hill Angels

IDG Capital is an investment firm that funds early- to growth-stage companies in the technology sector. Today they work with private equity and venture capital fund managers, investment advisors, and business entities from around the world. Their limited partners include many internationally reputable investors, including sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, institutional investors, major charities, university endowments, family offices, and business luminaries. IDG Capital brings a powerful combination of global perspective and local experience to investment management. As long-term value investors, they are highly skilled at mobilizing global resources to address local needs, especially for Inbound and outbound opportunities in China and the rest of Asia. Their highly skilled team has an in-depth understanding of the Chinese market and enjoys close relationships with many influential business leaders.

IDG Capital

GSR Ventures is a venture capital firm focused on technology companies developing AI-enabled enterprise software, consumer platforms, and healthcare technology. The firm backs entrepreneurs building disruptive businesses that have the potential to dominate multi-billion dollar markets. GSR Ventures currently manages about $3.7 billion across its funds.

GSR Ventures

Lightspeed Venture Partners is a venture capital firm that engages in consumer, enterprise, technology, and cleantech markets. It focuses on seed, early-stage, later-stage, expansion-stage, start-ups, growth companies, and incubation, and specializes in debt financing for start-ups and growth companies. Lightspeed Venture Partners invests in various sectors that include enterprise, consumer, big data, bitcoin, enterprise technology, cleantech, mobile, internet, financial technology, cloud solutions, e-commerce, storage, media, networking, energy, and software, software-as-a-service, information technology, biotechnology, and social.

Lightspeed Venture Partners

Long is a venture capital firm investing in early stage technology startups in China and the US. We combine local insight with a global perspective to power the ambitions of next-gen founders.

Long Venture Partners

DHVC is a venture capital firm based in Palo Alto, California. We invest in Enterprise, Consumer, FinTech, and Healthcare sectors. Our team brings together decades of combined experience in entrepreneurship, operations, investment, and research to serve our portfolio companies in growing and achieving success.

DHVC

Sumitomo Corporation is a business services company that works with import, export, trilateral trade, and business investment in Japan.

Sumitomo

Asahi Kasei Corporate Venture Capital is an investment firm that focused on primary sectors of homes, materials, and healthcare. The firm is focused on investing in innovative global firms in areas of strategic importance to Asahi Kasei. The company mission to create new long-term business opportunities for Asahi Kasei. Asahi Kasei Corporate Venture Capital was founded in 2008 and is based in Tokyo with offices in Menlo Park and Boston Area.

Asahi Kasei Corporate Venture Capital

SoftBank Vision Fund is a subsidiary of Softbank Group that specializes in growth capital and social impact investments. Sectors that the fund invests in include the internet of things, artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, communications infrastructure, telecoms, computational biology, biotech, cloud technologies and software, consumer internet businesses, financial technology, and mobile apps. The Fund is designed to be a catalyst for technology progress in anticipation that it will expand SoftBank's capabilities, accelerating progress towards SoftBank 2.0. It aims to invest in businesses and foundational platforms that SoftBank believes to revolutionize and innovate the world tomorrow.

SoftBank Vision Fund

Firework

Firework offers video commerce solutions built for websites, apps, and stores. They operate a storytelling platform intended to live stream videos directly on the website. The company's platform features in-video shopping, lead generation, and live streaming events and allows importing and editing videos, enabling brands to engage and convert their website visitors.

Firework is a pioneering video commerce platform that enables organizations to create engaging and shoppable video experiences on their digital channels. Its proprietary technology allows for seamless integration of live streaming, short-form videos, and interactive features directly into brands' websites and apps. Firework's solution revolutionizes the way consumers interact with video content, fostering immersive and personalized shopping journeys.

Firework Announces First-Ever Generative AI Product for Video Commerce

About Firework

Firework Raises $150M for Shoppable Video Platform, Plans to Hire 34+

Video Commerce Platform

Video Startup Firework Claims Livestream Shopping Could Take Off In The US

Firework Launches Next-Gen Consumer Insight Initiative with First Ever "Christmas in July" Video Commerce Experience

Harnessing the power of social influence to fuel online sales

Social Commerce

Firework Unveils AI-Powered Virtual Shopping Assistant

Walmart

A closed loop omnichannel media business of Walmart, to bring livestream and premium shoppable video content to Walmart's experience.

Tools typically used by influencers to demonstrate and sell products and services via social media. The solutions are the digital equivalents of live teleshopping programs.

Kraft Heinz

Firework, a video platform specializing in shoppable livestream and short-form video experiences, has joined forces with HEINZ® to create a unique livestream experience for the opening of the HEINZ Halloween Store in Santa Monica, California.

Albertsons

Albertsons Cos. partnered with immersive video specialist Firework to enable “shoppable,” TikTok-like video content to bring online shoppers a community-oriented experience via shoppable short-form and livestream video.

Firework is a pioneering video commerce platform that enables organizations to create engaging and shoppable video experiences on their digital channels. Its proprietary technology allows for seamless integration of live streaming, short-form videos, and interactive features directly into brands' websites and apps. Firework's solution revolutionizes the way consumers interact with video content, fostering immersive and personalized shopping journeys.
At the core of Firework's offering is its industry-leading video creation studio, which empowers brands to produce captivating shoppable videos effortlessly. These videos are designed to drive higher engagement, conversions, and sales by allowing customers to explore products, access information, and make purchases directly from the video player. Firework's videos can also incorporate artificial intelligence capabilities, providing real-time responses to customer queries long after a livestream has concluded.
Firework has partnered with prominent retailers like The Fresh Market, enabling them to replicate the in-store shopping experience online. Statistics from May 2023 showcase the platform's impact, with The Fresh Market reporting a 97% increase in clickthrough rates and doubled ROI after implementing Firework's shoppable videos.
In its pursuit of innovation, Firework acquired cutting-edge technologies to enhance its platform's capabilities. The acquisitions, completed in September 2022 and March 2023, broadened Firework's product suite and fortified its position as a leader in the video commerce space.

Hootsuite is a social media management platform that allows users to schedule, publish, monitor, and analyze social media content across multiple networks from a unified dashboard. Its key product offerings include content scheduling tools, social media monitoring and analytics, team collaboration features, social listening capabilities, and integrations with various social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
Hootsuite's core functionality revolves around the ability to streamline social media management processes by centralizing various social media activities into a single platform. Its scheduling tools enable users to plan and queue content for publishing across different social networks, while its monitoring features facilitate tracking brand mentions, competitor activities, and audience engagement. The platform's analytics tools provide insights into social media performance, aiding users in understanding the effectiveness of their social media strategies.
Hootsuite also emphasizes team collaboration by allowing multiple users to access and manage social media accounts, assign roles and permissions, and implement approval workflows for content publishing. Additionally, its social listening capabilities enable users to monitor conversations, trends, and keywords relevant to their brand or industry.
While Hootsuite offers a free trial and a limited free plan, its more advanced features are available through paid subscription plans, with pricing tiers ranging from the Professional plan at USD 99 per month (billed annually) to the Enterprise plan tailored for larger organizations with custom pricing.

Hootsuite

GRIN is a comprehensive influencer marketing platform designed to help brands manage their influencer programs efficiently. It streamlines the entire process, from identifying and recruiting suitable influencers to facilitating product seeding, campaign management, content tracking, and performance reporting. GRIN's key features include a vast creator database, advanced search capabilities, Shopify integration for seamless product fulfillment, automated communication workflows, and robust analytics tools.
GRIN's platform allows brands to discover and connect with influencers across various social media channels, including Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. By leveraging GRIN's extensive database, brands can filter and search for influencers that align with their target audience and campaign goals. The platform's Shopify integration simplifies the process of sending products to influencers, creating trackable links, and generating discount codes.
Once influencers are on board, GRIN enables brands to create and manage campaigns, define deliverables, and automate communication sequences. The platform tracks influencer content, captures user-generated content (UGC), and provides detailed performance metrics, including engagement rates, conversions, and revenue generated. GRIN's reporting capabilities allow brands to analyze the success of their influencer campaigns and make data-driven decisions.
Key customers and partnerships
GRIN has collaborated with notable brands such as MVMT, a luxury watch company, Lume Cube, a specialty lighting brand, tentree, an apparel brand, Darn Good Yarn, Tubby Todd, and Hush Blankets. These partnerships demonstrate GRIN's ability to cater to diverse industries and support businesses in scaling their influencer marketing efforts.

GRIN

Bazaarvoice is a technology company that provides a Social Commerce AI suite, enabling brands to curate and showcase user-generated content across various social media platforms. Its flagship product, the Media Library, serves as a centralized hub for collecting, publishing, and managing social content from customers, influencers, partners, and the brand itself. This tool leverages AI-powered features to sort, tag, and prioritize high-performing media content, streamlining workflow and expediting legal approvals.
The company's Social Commerce AI suite offers a range of solutions to optimize social engagement and drive conversions. It generates on-brand photo captions, surfaces authentic user-generated content aligned with the brand's identity, and identifies top trends and themes for social media strategies. Bazaarvoice's Like2Buy solution allows brands to create shoppable Instagram and TikTok feeds, where visitors can browse products, read posts, and make purchases directly from the social storefront.
Additionally, Bazaarvoice's Showroom feature transforms photos and videos into interactive storefronts, enabling users to discover new products through visually appealing AI-powered experiences. This approach has proven effective, with 46% of Showroom visits converting to ecommerce sessions.
In terms of performance metrics, the company's solutions have demonstrated impressive results. Like2Buy visitors convert to ecommerce sessions at a rate of 59%, and these referred visitors tend to spend more time browsing, view more pages, and have higher average order values compared to average mobile consumers.

Bazaarvoice

NTWRK is a curated live video shopping platform that offers exclusive access to limited-edition products across various categories like sneakers, streetwear, collectibles, and more. It revolutionized the ecommerce industry by combining live streaming with online shopping, creating an engaging and interactive experience for consumers.
NTWRK's platform allows customers to watch live streams hosted by influencers, celebrities, or brand representatives who showcase and discuss the featured products. During these events, viewers can interact through live chat, ask questions, and make purchases seamlessly without leaving the video stream. This innovative approach provides transparency, fosters a sense of community, and creates a sense of urgency and exclusivity around the products on offer.
Since its inception in 2018, NTWRK has partnered with renowned artists, brands, and personalities such as Post Malone, Lewis Hamilton, BLACKPINK, and Takashi Murakami, offering their fans unprecedented access to exclusive collaborations and limited releases. The company has been at the forefront of the live stream shopping industry, which is estimated to reach USD 68 billion in sales by 2026 in the US alone.
In February 2024, NTWRK acquired the popular youth culture media company Complex, marking a significant step in its evolution. By merging Complex's content and reach with NTWRK's ecommerce platform, the combined entity aims to create a comprehensive digital hub for "superfan" culture, encompassing commerce, digital media, and music.
Key customers and partnerships
Through its strategic partnership with Universal Music Group (UMG), NTWRK gained access to industry-leading music labels like Interscope Geffen A&M (IGA) and Capitol Music Group. This collaboration allows NTWRK to deliver exclusive collaborations and cultural experiences directly to passionate music fans, deepening the connection between artists and their audiences.
Notable partnerships include exclusive collaborations with BLACKPINK x Murakami and the Interscope 30th Anniversary vinyl collection, featuring dialogues between visual artists like Damien Hirst, Kehinde Wiley, and Ed Ruscha, and iconic Interscope artists from the past three decades.

NTWRK

ShopShops is a live-shopping platform that allows hosts to showcase and sell products in real-time to viewers through livestreaming. The company primarily focuses on the fashion and lifestyle segment, offering pre-owned luxury and designer brands. ShopShops' business model involves connecting retail brands with creators, referred to as hosts, who can represent and sell the brands' products through live video sessions.
The platform operates as a three-sided marketplace, facilitating the interaction between brands, hosts, and consumers. Brands can hire hosts on an hourly or event basis to showcase their products during live streams, providing a personalized shopping experience to viewers. This approach aims to bridge the gap between traditional retail and ecommerce by replicating an offline shopping experience online.
ShopShops initially launched in China in 2017 and observed consumer behavior similar to the early adoption phase of live shopping in that market. The company entered the US market in 2022, recognizing the growth potential as American consumers become more receptive to this shopping format. ShopShops anticipates that by 2024, major US brands will incorporate live streaming into their marketing strategies, following a similar trajectory to the adoption of platforms like TikTok.
While live shopping in the US is expected to be more segmented across vertical categories compared to China's more centralized platforms, ShopShops believes its focus on the female fashion and lifestyle vertical positions it well for success. The platform aims to expand into other verticals such as home and arts in the future.

ShopShops

Platforms for creating, scheduling, and managing a brand or independent seller’s social media presence. A number of these platforms also provide AI-powered social listening and data analytics tools to gauge customer sentiment.

AI-powered tools for automatically monitoring and responding to customer queries across multiple social media channels.

Platforms for identifying and managing influencers to promote and sell products and services through social media.

Platforms for curating and displaying customer reviews, recommendations, and product and service feedback on a brand or independent sellers' social media pages and websites.

Tools to create and implement instant shopping features to an image or video advertisement

Increases transparency of the effectiveness of social commerce by providing solutions for attribution and measurement

Relevant for social chatbots segment that uses AI/ML to provide automated responses to customers

Creates virtual assets for Metaverse stores and marketing on metaverse platforms

Social media platforms such as Snap are developing AR solutions for live shopping experiences

Firework

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