‘Hype commerce’ tech attracts $25m

Software focused venture firms Insight Partners of New York and AirTree Ventures of Sydney have led a $25 million capital raise for e-commerce technology start-up EQL.

Melbourne-based EQL, pronounced equal, provides what the company calls a “hype commerce” software platform, designed to prevent e-commerce websites from crashing because of sudden spikes in traffic volume and to slow down activities of scammers and bots.

The raise was supported by global market leaders in digital commerce including Guillaume Pousaz’s Zinal Growth; Harry Stebbings’ investment fund, 20VC; Sam Kroonenburg, the Australian co-founder of cloud computing training website A Cloud Guru; and the family office of Michael Rubin, chief executive of licensed sports merchandise company Fanatics.

EQL’s founders say their technology is built from the ground up for “hype commerce,” limited volume sales of new release items such as special-edition sneakers. A shared obsession with acquiring new release sneakers was the starting point for the creation of EQL for former Google employees Andrew Lipp, now chief executive; James Boysons, chief revenue officer; and Patrick Donelan, chief technology officer.

Lipp said: “EQL started from a shared passion for fairness. As avid sneaker fans, we were sick of missing out while others scored in droves. When we decided to build the platform our focus was on creating more fairness. This is still our truth today. As we’ve grown, we’ve always focused on how we can give fans better access to the products they love.

“By using EQL, we’re giving brands more control of their limited release product drops and supporting more meaningful interactions with fans. This is something the market hasn’t experienced before. With us, they can own their hype and harness it. This is creating a new wave of commerce.”

EQL was focused on pain points in the sneaker space when it was launched last year but now also supports luxury brands across apparel, alcohol and fashion accessories and plans to soon expand into gaming, ticketing and digital collectives. This vision, and the platform’s impressive rate of growth in a global market is what attracted Insight Partners.

Managing director A.J. Malhotra said: “Avid and loyal fans can’t get their hands on products fast enough and that hype can create a number of technical challenges for e-commerce retailers. EQL’s innovative platform is helping mitigate and prevent these challenges by creating seamless product launch experiences that give retailers more control and fans better access to the products they want.”

AirTree Ventures general partner John Henderson added: “Andrew Patrick and James’ pain comes from an authentic place. They were frustrated that they couldn’t get access to products they love. Today’s e-commerce infrastructure can’t always handle hype heat but EQL now can. We were delighted to fund them and help turn EQL into what it is today; a fully-fledged ecosystem working with global brands.”  

EQL’s technology is currently in use in Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Spain, UK, US, Singapore, France, Netherlands, Macau and Hong Kong.  Brands that have used the technology include crocs, Foot Locker, culture kings and Sullivans Cove.