Shopstory: Lower Austrian e-commerce startup secures millions in investment

05.10.2023

The Lower Austrian startup Shopstory, provider of smart online store marketing software, has secured further growth capital. Following lead investor tecnet equity, Calm/Storm Ventures and startup300, the aws Gründungsfonds is bringing further venture capital on board. In addition to the existing business angels Patrick Pöschl (Co-Founder Scaleable Capital), Johannes Braith (Founder Storebox) and Hansi Hansmann, further investors have been acquired: Shopstory shareholders now also include PlanRadar founders Sander van der Rijdt and Ibrahim Imam, Michael Innerebner (ex-VW and Audi manager), Coinpanion Co-Founder Saad Wohlgenannt, Leonard Quack (Co-Founder vergleich.org) and Kai Hesselmann (DealCircle) as well as the Schütz Family Office. Shopstory 2023 was thus able to raise a total of around two million euros in equity in this two-part capital increase.

Standing, from left to right: Lukas Punzet, Sander van de Rijdt, Christoph Haimberger, Lisa Pallweber, Alexander Schütz, René Danzinger, Michael Innerebner, Johannes Blaschke. Front from l. to r.: Robert Böhm, Sebastian Schwelle

Photo: copyright shopstory

The successful completion of the capital round is remarkable given the very difficult situation on the venture capital market. “It was hard work, but it was worth it. The talks lasted several months. Our continuous growth during the fundraising process and the reliable achievement of all promised milestones naturally helped a great deal. A huge thank you goes to the great Shopstory team, without whom this next important step would not have been possible,” says Sebastian Schwelle, Co-Founder and CEO of Shopstory.

“Shopstory has grown at an above-average rate despite the post-corona trauma in the e-commerce sector and the decline in consumer spending due to inflation. Online stores need to set up their online marketing as efficiently as possible in order to remain competitive. Shopstory is the perfect partner for this. A seven-figure investment round in the current market situation speaks for the quality of the company and the team,” says PlanRadar founder Sander van der Rijdt, new investor at Shopstory.

“Shopstory is gaining new customers every day and their digital efficiency is increasing rapidly. Building on this, we are now taking the next growth step with “Shopstory 2.0”, where we are happy to strengthen the passionate team. Operators of small and medium-sized online stores in particular will grow faster and scale together with Shopstory.

Capital for the launch of 'Shopstory 2.0'

The fresh capital will primarily be used for further expansion in the European market and for the development of the new product, which will be launched in a few weeks. Shopstory 2.0', which has already been announced under the code name “Project Pulse”, will make it possible to fully automate repetitive processes in e-commerce marketing. The individual work steps are summarized in 'flows'. E-commerce marketers can use prepared flows or create their own in a no-code platform using drag & drop.

“Our customers love ready-to-use automation because it allows them to work extremely efficiently. The use of flows brings enormous benefits to both the e-commerce merchant and the marketing agency supporting them. AI integrations will also be available, which will significantly speed up marketing processes even further,” says Sebastian Schwelle, CEO and co-founder of Shopstory.

Growth despite the e-commerce crisis

Shopstory has achieved impressive growth since its launch in September 2020, reaching its first million euros in annual recurring revenue in less than 24 months.

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