Why we invested: Instant Commerce — building a headless commerce category leader

At firstminute we invest in founders and markets — it doesn’t need to get too much more complicated than this at seed. Instant Commerce was therefore a no-brainer for us when we met the incredible founders Coen, Doeke and Sam after we got a message from Dominik (the founder of our portfolio company Storyblok) who said we simply had to back this team.

Our first call with them was on a Friday evening, the second call on a Saturday afternoon and the Investment Committee meeting the following Wednesday. We offered a term sheet that evening and signed within 24 hours.

The pitch was simple from the founders (the best ones always are) — providing the infrastructure for scaling e-commerce brands to adopt an API-first architecture without engineering resources. The brands get a modern technology stack quickly and cheaply and customers have the best online buying experience the market can offer. Everyone wins!

Instant Commerce currently integrates with Shopify to enable merchants to build a headless webshop in the easiest way possible. Shopify is a world-class platform but for scaling companies who want top-notch page speed and performance, omnichannel marketing capabilities, dedicated microservices for each part of their infrastructure (Content Management Systems, Fulfillment Providers, ERP Software, Payments, Content Delivery Networks etc.) and security, a headless set-up is the way to go.

With e-commerce tailwinds only getting stronger (Covid, The Great Resignation or as we see it The Great Start!), the JAMstack as the new standard in web development (Javascript, APIs and Markup) and the power that no-code brings in unleashing innovation from knowledge workers (abstracting away the complexity associated with building new products), we knew we wanted to join them on their journey in building the next major platform in e-commerce.

The icing on the cake — the trio know their market inside and out having scaled their digital agency in Amsterdam (founded when they were 20!) with some of the world’s largest brands including Nike and Philips. And most importantly and what we are always searching for — restless, ambitious and on a pursuit to run through walls when it comes to building a world-class team and product for their customers.

We are absolutely thrilled to be joined in this round by some incredible European operators including the founders of Snyk, Supercell and Flaschenpost.