Technology

Experiential e-commerce platform attains $10M funding

Photo by istock.com

July 8, 2021

Obsess, an experiential e-commerce platform providing interactive online virtual stores, has closed a $10 million Series A funding round.

The round, which brings the company's total funding to $13.4 million, was led by Jump Capital, with participation from the Venture Reality Fund and WXR Fund, according to a press release.

Obsess plans to use the latest investment to accelerate global expansion, product development and expand beyond fashion and beauty into additional retail verticals such as home, entertainment and consumer packaged goods.

Top brands partnering with Obsess include Coach, Tommy Hilfiger, Dermalogica, NARS, Charlotte Tilbury, American Girl, Sam's Club, Mary Kay and Nayom, according to the release.

"Immersive shopping experiences are becoming a standard part of e-commerce, and forward-thinking brands are using our technology platform to provide shoppers with a rich, interactive way to shop for their products," Neha Singh, Obsess founder and CEO, said in the release. "Younger shoppers who have grown up interacting with video games and watching e-sports expect to be able to interact with brands in real time as they shop online and 3D virtual shopping experiences will soon be table stakes for brands in every retail category."

Dermalogica partnered with Obsess to create a shoppable virtual store experience that gives customers an engaging way to learn about and shop for the brand's assortment of skin care products.

"Educating consumers is one of our core priorities as a brand and we're thrilled to partner with Obsess to make the experience of interacting with our brand and discovering, learning about and shopping for our skin care products and services even more engaging," Kenna Wynne-Jones, associate director of brand marketing at Dermalogica, said in the release. "We are committed to meeting our customers' unique skin care needs however and whenever they prefer to shop, and many of them prefer to shop from home. The Obsess platform provides an immersive virtual experience that's unmatched and gives us an entirely new way to tell our brand story."

Obsess uses virtual and augmented-reality technologies to create immersive digital flagship and pop-up store experiences and enables brands to engage new customer audiences without needing to establish a brick-and-mortar presence in international markets.