A new $100,000 investment from Render Capital will help Kansas City-based Veeper Inc. “really move the needle.”
The local startup, which was one of eight winners in Render’s pitch competition, was selected out of 302 applicants from 27 countries. As a winner, Veeper will be required to relocate its headquarters to the Louisville area for at least a year, but Veeper co-founder and CEO Jordan Williams stressed the startup will maintain a dual headquarters.
The idea for Veeper was born out of a personal frustration: During the pandemic, Williams' 6,000 Chipotle points expired, along with a $200 Southwest Airlines voucher. He wanted to create an app where the rewards never expired.
Veeper’s Shopify app tracks a customer’s spending habits over time and solves the problem of universal discount codes, which typically cause retailers to overspend, he said.
“In a sense, we’re gamifying shopping,” Williams said.
Online retailers no longer need to rely on blanket promo codes or a points-based customer loyalty program. Instead, Veeper’s algorithm nudges shoppers to add more items to their cart to see their discount increase.
“You’re applying discounts for the shopper while the iron’s hot,” he said. “They’re already shopping, so you have a better chance of getting them to convert and purchase while they’re looking at the screen, rather than later through an email promo code.”
For the discounts, Veeper also takes into account individual products, so a retailer can offer discounts based on what it can afford, and how often a customer is shopping on the retailer’s site. The most loyal shoppers get rewarded the most.
Also, the store downloads the app and integrates it onto the website, which means customers don’t have to fill up their phone with another app.
Veeper tested its prototype with 30 stores, which saw their average order value increase by 14%. The startup plans to launch the official app in about a month and already has a wait list of 89 stores.
The funding boost from Render will allow Veeper to enhance its user interface, so it looks more appealing to the shopper and retailer, as well as finish dashboards. Williams said the money also will be used for digital advertising testing, building out Veeper’s website, and hiring another developer. The startup employs six, including its three co-founders: Williams, Julian Taylor and Mark Neville.
Render’s backing also could payoff as Veeper looks to raise more funding in the future. It gives prospective investors more confidence to invest.
“It definitely gives us great validation going forward,” he said.
