AAA Snapcommerce snags $85m

Snapcommerce snags $85m

Snapcommerce, the Canada-based operator of a message-focused mobile commerce platform, has completed an $85m funding round that included Telstra Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of telecommunications firm Telstra.

Venture capital firms Inovia Capital and Lion Capital co-led the round, which also featured Acrew Capital’s Acrew DCF fund, Thayer Ventures, Full In Partners and Bee Partners.

Founded in 2016, Snapcommerce runs a mobile commerce platform that uses messaging to alert users to special offers. Its lead product, Snaptravel, offers travel deals through text messages as well as the Messenger and WhatsApp platforms.

Hussein Fazal, co-founder and chief executive of Snapcommerce, said: “At Snapcommerce, we have streamlined the broken process of finding the best prices on mobile.

“Instead of endlessly browsing or trying different coupon codes and rewards cards, we centralise and connect every touchpoint across the purchase and fulfilment journey. This makes finding the right item at the right price as easy as sending a message to a trusted friend on your phone.”

The company, then still going under the Snaptravel brand, closed a $21.2m series A round in 2018 featuring Telstra Ventures, Inovia Capital, Stephen Curry, Peter Kern and existing backers Lightbank, Bee Partners and Hedgewood to take its total funding to $22.3m.

By Robert Lavine

Robert Lavine is special features editor for Global Venturing.