Luge invests in Livescale to enable live shopping experiences for top consumer brands

We’re thrilled to announce that we have completed an investment in Montreal-based Livescale, the company that is building the e-commerce infrastructure for live shopping experiences. Luge Capital led the CAD $2.5M financing round with Granicus Group (operated by the founders of WatchMojo). Other participating investors were Panache Ventures, Real Ventures, French Founders and strategic angels. We backed the Livescale team because they’re hyper-focused on serving their customers, and they’re building the future of how consumers interact with the brands they love.

In the last 12 months, we’ve all faced COVID-related lockdowns, driving us into new routines and new ways to interact with each other. Though some of the “new normals” were anticipated, one of the biggest changes that emerged from the pandemic is how we shop. Instead of walking the high streets or browsing the malls, we opened our laptops and grabbed our phones. Consumers spent $861.12 billion online with U.S. retailers in 2020, up 44.0% from $598.02 billion in 2019, according to the latest Digital Commerce 360 analysis. This represents a systemic shift in how people interact with brands, moving demand online and away from in-person retail. While some of this volume will return to retail post-COVID, we believe the shift to online shopping is here to stay.

As retail brands seek to develop deeper relationships with their customers, the traditional e-commerce experience falls flat. Browsing through a catalogue of products is not as engaging or immersive as interacting with a real person, someone who can respond to questions immediately or demonstrate products in an entertaining way.

Live shopping is the next generation of digital commerce, providing users with an experience that is captivating and relevant. The Livescale platform enables large consumer brands to produce engaging content within the context of a shopping experience, enabling viewers to make purchases directly within the livestream. Viewers can participate through a web app on desktop or mobile. (Notice that I used the word “participate” rather than “buy”).

Live streaming e-commerce is growing massively. In Asian markets, live shopping accounted for $60 billion in sales in 2019 with over 430 million participants, about 30% of China’s population. In 2020, sales were estimated to be $242 billion with a viewership of 560 million. During the 2020 11.11 Global Shopping Festival (fka “Single’s Day”), live shopping alone accounted for $6 billion in sales.

While live shopping is still in its infancy in North America and Europe, the sea is already beginning to surge, and Livescale is well-positioned to be the market leader. Virgile Ollivier and Laurent Boutet, the co-founders of Livescale, are on a mission to help top brands engage their audiences in unique human-centric experiences, so they feel more connected.

Livescale connects directly with payment processors to create a seamless checkout flow without leaving the livestream. The company has enabled over 300 brands, including Jenny Bird, Lancome and Vans to drive engagement, bolster brand awareness and increase sales.

“In a world where we increasingly feel isolated, our goal is to help our customers deliver more social and engaging shopping experiences”

- Virgile Ollivier, Co-Founder and CEO

Livescale’s technology platform is integrated with Shopify and Salesforce Commerce Cloud, and offers a fully customer-branded solution to give merchants full control over the look and feel of their live shopping experiences. With the strength of their tech and high-calibre team, the company was regarded by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH) as one of 2020’s most innovative startups.

Live shopping injects a human connection in commerce interactions that often feels dry. Traditional e-commerce is quick and convenient, but the human element is something brands have wanted to include for the experience to feel organic. Although COVID acted as an accelerant for the shop-at-home habit, live shopping, like many adapted consumer behaviours, is going to persist as an “everyday” part of the buying experience. Pull up a seat.

-Karim Gillani, General Partner, Luge Capital

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Livescale is currently hiring for the following roles:

• QA Specialist
• Senior Front End Developer
• Senior Back End Developer
• Back End Developer
• iOS Developer

Please apply here: https://careers.smartrecruiters.com/Livescale

About Luge Capital

Luge Capital is a FinTech-focused venture capital fund, investing in early-stage teams shaping the way the world experiences financial services. We invest in fintech and AI solutions applied to financial services and love when entrepreneurs challenge the status quo. We work with dedicated founders who are driven to solve real problems that affect people on a global scale. We are an experienced team of operators with a deep industry network to help leaders build successful companies.