b8ta was a retail-as-a-service company which serve as presentation centers for

consumer electronics Consumer electronics, also known as home electronics, are electronic devices intended for everyday household use. Consumer electronics include those used for entertainment, Communication, communications, and recreation. Historically, these prod ...

and home goods. The company was founded in 2015 by Vibhu Norby, William Mintun, Phillip Raub, and Nicholas Mann. Its first location opened in

Palo Alto Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

in December 2015. Companies could pay to rent out space for their product to be displayed inside the locations, along with a tablet that each brand customizes with software. All of the products in stores were on display out-of-the-box and could be touched and demoed. The company also sold the products directly to consumers. Store employees, which the company calls "b8ta testers", assisted customers with demos and product information which is taught to them by companies with products on display. In November 2019, b8ta opened a fashion store named Forum in

West Hollywood West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. History Most historical writings about West Hollywood be ...

with the same business model. b8ta closed its last retail stores in the United States on February 18, 2022, due to low traffic caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and a surge in burglaries.

Ark

Ark (previously known as Built by b8ta) provides businesses with a platform to open physical showrooms for their products. The most prevalent is a 70 location store within a store concept with

Lowe's Lowe's Companies, Inc. ( ) is an American retail company specializing in home improvement. Headquartered in Mooresville, North Carolina, the company operates a chain of retail stores in the United States. As of October 28, 2022, Lowe's and i ...

. These areas operate under the SmartSpot banner and allow customers to interact with

smart home ''SMart'' was a British CBBC television programme based on art, which began in 1994 and ended in 2009. The programme was recorded at BBC Television Centre in London. Previously it had been recorded in Studio A at Pebble Mill Studios in Birming ...

products.

Macy's Herald Square Macy's Herald Square (originally named the R. H. Macy and Company Store) is a department store building on West 34th Street (Manhattan), 34th Street at Herald Square in New York City, New York (state), New York, United States. It was designed b ...

is also home to a pop-up space equipped with Ark's technology. In 2019, Tru Kids, the trademark holder of

Toys "R" Us Toys "R" Us is an American toy, clothing, and baby product retailer owned by Tru Kids (doing business as Tru Kids Brands) and various others. The company was founded in 1948 in Washington, D.C.; its first store was built in April 1948, with i ...

in the United States began using the Ark platform for its physical locations.

Funding

In September 2016, b8ta raised a $7 million

Series A round A series A is the name typically given to a company's first significant round of venture capital financing. It can be followed by the word round, investment or financing. The name refers to the class of preferred stock sold to investors in excha ...

of funding. In June 2018, b8ta closed a $19 million

Series B round A venture round is a type of funding round used for venture capital financing, by which startup companies obtain investment, generally from venture capitalists and other institutional investors. The availability of venture funding is among the p ...

led by Macy's, with participation from Sound Ventures, Palm Drive Capital, Capitaland, Graphene Ventures, Khosla Ventures and Plug and Play Ventures. The round brought b8ta's total funding to $39 million.

Macy's Macy's is an American department store chain founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. The first store was located in Manhattan on Sixth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets, south of the present-day flagship store at Herald Square on West 34 ...

acquired a minority share in b8ta during June 2018. In October 2019, b8ta raised a $50 million series C led by Evolution Ventures, with previous investors Macy's, Khosla Ventures, and others participating.

Decline and closure

b8ta's high-end merchandise made it a frequent target for shoplifters and burglars, with security costs at its Hayes Valley store in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

reaching $30,000 a month. b8ta closed two San Francisco locations in 2021 following numerous armed robberies. b8ta closed its last retail stores in the United States on February 18, 2022, due to challenges stemming from the

, which had caused foot traffic in some locations to decrease as much as 98% from peaks before the pandemic.

References

{{reflist Retail companies of the United States American companies established in 2015 Retail companies established in 2015 Retail companies disestablished in 2022 Companies based in San Francisco Macy's Lowe's

Ark

Funding

Decline and closure

See also

References