A new software company situated in London named Emperia has raised over £ 10 million in growth capital. With the technology to create virtual stores, it aims to bring retail into the metaverse.
To date, the company’s teams in London and New York have collaborated with Bloomingdales, Dior, Sunglass Hut and Lacoste.
They created a platform that enables the production of immersive virtual experiences for companies across several retail sectors, and Olga Dogadkina, an expert in fashion and retail, and Simonas Holcmann, a VR innovation specialist, launched it in 2019.
Giving retailers the technical and aesthetic tools they need to create and run effective virtual storefronts is part of their effort to combine the accessibility of e-commerce with the impact of in-person retail.
“While working in fashion, it became clear to me that e-commerce was the future, but 2D websites were merely a tool that enabled an online purchase, but were lacking the customer journey and story-telling that brands are after. The solution was to bridge that gap, with the aim of making virtual experiences into the future of brands’ long-term e-commerce strategy,” said CEO Dogadkina.
The additional funding will be used to expand the team, create the SaaS platform for the digital storefront and enhance the possibilities of the data suite that drives it.
Sony Innovation Fund, Base10 Partners, Daphni, Background Capital, Stanford Capital Partners, Concept Ventures and entrepreneur Jay Radia were among the investors in the round.
