Firework secured $150 million in Series B funding from SoftBank Vision Fund 2.
The company says it is worth $750 million. Firework raised $55 million to value it at $230 million. Firework has taken in more than $235 million in funding since it was founded by two men.
Firework has big ambitions and chose Softbank Investment Advisers because of their shared vision.
Firework provides shoppable video and livestreaming commerce capabilities for retailers, consumer brands and publishers that want to tap into their own customer data to build engaging video experiences across their own digital properties and social channels.
Firework was working with hundreds of companies last year. In October of last year, the first U.S. grocery store to use Firework's platform to create and host their own short-form and livestream video was the Albertsons brands websites and app.
Adoption continues to grow in live commerce. In China, live commerce sales are expected to hit $423 billion by the year 2022. The U.S. live commerce market is poised to reach $35 billion in sales by 2024.
Firework's co-founders say there is a lot of opportunity to be had in a North American market where live commerce represents less than 10% of online sales. Other companies think the same. Some of the venture capital dollars are being attracted by Upmesh and Drip. Whatnot and Popshop dominate the industry.
Firework's new round is a chance to grab more of that market share and invest in its technology and product development. The company will be adding employees in engineering, product and marketing.
Linda Yu, partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers, has joined Firework's board of directors.
Yu said that short videos and livestreaming are the default language for the digital era, which is changing how consumers engage with brands and products online. We are thrilled to partner with them to build a next generation customer experience, because they have assembled an impressive team in the digital commerce space.
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