Investing in blaenk
Do you remember the days without online shopping? I still see myself in crowded department stores on the local high street on a Saturday. Rails and shelves fully packed with products in the same way. Price tags, brand names and the most basic specifications and that’s it. For any further experience with the product everyone in the store was relying on the availability and knowhow of the few employees on the floor (if you could find one, who’s available). Today, the overall offline experience didn’t change that much but online shopping became a more convenient alternative. Still, many of us shop offline because we want to try out, explore, see, touch, and feel what we buy. Both traditional retailers and online shops cannot provide a desirable experience for shoppers: There is a gap in the shopping experience!
As a digitally native retail company _blaenk combines the best elements of the online and offline world to a truly unique shopping experience driven by software. The company is focussing on innovative lifestyle and well being products, creating an engaging and caring offline experience customers really desire. At the same time _blaenk provides brands with analytics and customer insights and targeting options they only know from e-commerce. Today _blaenk is working with leading and established brands like Mercedes, Zwilling or Melitta as well as innovative startups such as BLACKROLL or Vaha and offers them a unique experience in one of Germany’s best shopping locations: in Cologne’s Schildergasse. In October 2021 _blaenk will launch their second location in Zürich, Switzerland and more are to come. Also _blaenk will launch micro-spaces in partner locations such as retailers, airports, shopping malls, hotels etc.
Through their proprietary tech stack on site and a digital booking platform, brands position their products in the _blaenk modules (varying in sizes from small to extra large) and get detailed customer insights ranging from average interaction time per product, detailed footfall analyses and consumer behaviour as well as sales and conversion rate. In combination with _blaenk’s standardized storytelling and showcasing methodology customers embark on an interactive and emotionalizing journey with these products. Still, visitors of the blaenk store enjoy the convenience of a digital access point to each product. It makes sure that detailed product information, checkout and delivery are as convenient as an online shopping experience. With their solution _blaenk is on the mission to make shopping more democratic, accessible and interactive. They are closing the gap in the shopping experience between retail and e-commerce.
But why should a proptech and urban tech investor like Styx Urban Investments invest in such a company? What looks like a retail as a service model at the first glimpse has a big impact on retail in a modern future city: It brings shopping closer to people’s homes. With the blaenk modules, consisting of a standardized and smart shelf system in four different sizes, the company is going to scale into new shops without even owning and running them. Customers will have the opportunity to engage with products in their neighborhood, their office and travel space or community center. This brings shopping closer to our everyday’s life. Brands on the other hand benefit from _blaenk’s solution, which is becoming their campagin manager for offline product placements: Standardized customer experience based on blaenk’s best practices, digital customer targeting and campaign booking in different spaces combined with detailed customer insights and campaign tracking. It’s a win win for both customers and brands. Such an approach can be further validated and improved leveraging the unique circumstances of the Styx Living Lab and its community.
We believe in _blaenk not just because they are anticipating general and industry specific mega trends, but because of their software and technology driven approach. They decouple their scaling strategy from owning or renting physical space and enable the company to grow in an AirBnB like way: Using (retail) space without owning or renting it. Additionally, their SaaS and commission based business model offers multiple, scalable revenue streams, while minimizing operating costs at the same time. The team around Martin, Svenja Sandra and Chris knows the industry inside out and combines relevant, retail related, working experience from the marketing and communications industry, Google Shopping and other leading tech companies.
We’re thrilled that Styx Urban Investments joins blaenk in preparation for their Series A round. We’re going to support them with operational real estate expertise and further validation of opportunities for the blaenk modules, leveraging the full scale of the Styx Living Lab. Welcome to the Styx Family Team blaenk!
