Spring was an

E-commerce E-commerce (electronic commerce) is the activity of electronically buying or selling of products on online services or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain mana ...

platform that connected retailers and shoppers using a

direct-to-consumer Direct-to-consumer (DTC) or business-to-consumer (B2C) is the business model of selling products directly to customers and thereby bypassing any third-party retailers, wholesalers, or any other middlemen. Direct-to-consumer sales are usually tr ...

sales model. The company, headquartered in New York City, launched its mobile marketplace on August 14, 2014. It raised over $30 million in venture funding by 2015. The platform was recognized by

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ances ...

as one of the Best apps of 2014. In October 2018, the membership service ''ShopRunner'' announced the acquisition of Spring and closed the platform in 2019.

History

Spring was founded in 2013 by the brothers Alan and David Tisch, former

Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...

employees, Octavian Costache, and Ara Katz. The company originally operated as Jello Labs, and announced the name change to Spring in July 2014 when it raised $7.5 million in Series A round funding led by

Thrive Capital Thrive Capital is an American venture capital firm based in New York City. It focuses on media and internet investments. The firm was founded by Joshua Kushner who is also co-founder of Oscar Health and minority owner of the Memphis Grizzlie ...

. The company chose the name Spring to mirror the shopping area on Spring Street in

SoHo, Manhattan SoHo, sometimes written Soho (South of Houston Street), is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, and has also been known for its varie ...

. The app was officially launched on August 14, 2014, with 250 brands selling their products on the iPhone-based platform. In April 2015, Spring raised $25 million in a Series B round of venture funding led by Box Group that included

Yuri Milner Yuri Borisovich (Bentsionovich) Milner (russian: Юрий Борисович (Бенционович) Мильнер; born 11 November 1961) is a Soviet-born Israeli entrepreneur, venture capitalist and physicist. He is a cofounder and former c ...

Google Ventures GV is a venture capital investment arm of Alphabet Inc., founded by Bill Maris, that provides seed, venture, and growth stage funding to technology companies. Founded as Google Ventures in 2009, the firm has operated independently of Google, Alph ...

and Thrive Capital. Spring launched a desktop version of the shopping platform in November 2015. In March 2016, Spring launched a "personal shopping assistant" on Facebook's bot store. In December 2016, Spring had 1,300 brands on the platform including

Marc Jacobs Marc Jacobs (born April 9, 1963) is an American fashion designer. He is the head designer for his own fashion label, Marc Jacobs, and formerly Marc by Marc Jacobs, a diffusion line, which was produced for approximately 15 years, before it was ...

Helmut Lang Helmut Lang may refer to: * Helmut Lang (artist) (born 1956), Austrian-born fashion designer and artist * Helmut Lang (athlete) (born 1940), Austrian Olympic sprinter * Helmut Lang (fashion brand) The Helmut Lang fashion brand was created by ...

and

Coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. Spring raised $65 million in a Series C round of venture funding led by

Fidelity Investments Fidelity Investments, commonly referred to as Fidelity, earlier as Fidelity Management & Research or FMR, is an American multinational financial services corporation based in Boston, Massachusetts. The company was established in 1946 and is on ...

that included previous investors in May 2017. As of May 2017, Spring sold items from over 1,500 retail brands and had a gross value of over $100 million.

Operations

Spring was launched using a mobile first or m-commerce strategy and the company operated without a website until 2015. It did not stock any inventory directly, and instead used a

drop shipping Drop shipping is a form of retail business where the seller accepts customer orders without keeping stock on hand. Instead, in a form of supply chain management, the seller transfers the orders and their shipment details either to the manufacture ...

methodology to fulfill orders. The site also curated personalized collections and offered users brand recommendations.

References

Privately held companies based in New York City Software companies based in New York City Software companies established in 2014 Retail companies established in 2014 Internet properties established in 2014 Online retailers of the United States 2014 in New York City 2014 establishments in New York City American companies established in 2014 Defunct software companies of the United States {{US-software-company-stub