"Shopping assistant" ShopSavvy announced it has received $7 million in Series A funding led by Facebook co-founder and investor Eduardo Saverin. Along with the funding, the announcement said Saverin will join ShopSavvy's board of directors. Former Saks Incorporated chairman and CEO Brad Martin will also join the board of advisors, the company said.
"Between Eduardo's social media experience and Brad's years of retail experience, they have seen it all in this industry, so we're very proud that they are both on board," said Alexander Muse, CEO of ShopSavvy Inc.
ShopSavvy also announced James Bailey and John Boyd, COO and co-founder of ShopSavvy, will join co-founders Alexander Muse and Rylan Barnes on the board.
The company said the funding will go toward expanding ShopSavvy's engineering team as well as opening an office in San Francisco.
"Our focus has always been providing the best experience and service to the consumer. This round of funding gives ShopSavvy the resources to build new services that will help provide consumers better real-time visibility for the best buying decisions possible," Muse said.
ShopSavvy's application lets users of smartphones locate, research and buy products at the point of sale. By scanning a barcode, or inputting a product name, ShopSavvy users can find locations where the item is sold, including online, as well as price and availability. It also aggregates deals, ratings and reviews for the product.
"Much like the nascent days of social media, I believe the mobile shopping services market is in the very early stages of change," said Eduardo Saverin. "In my opinion, ShopSavvy has the right connections, the right partners and the right technology to be a game-changer."
The company said its application has been downloaded more than 20 million times and has 10 million current unique users as well as partnerships with 40,000 retailers.
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