Screens
Retail is now live streaming.
Popshop Live, which raised $3 million led by Floodgate and Abstract Ventures, wants users to shop on their phones as if they're browsing through products and interacting with clerks in a store. The live-streaming service takes a new twist on home shopping.
Launched last year by CEO and founder Danielle Li, Popshop Live will use the funds to help build out its audience as the company tries to convince shop owners to set up mini-studios inside their businesses. In all the company has raised $4.5 million.
<p>The idea of the application came to Li back in 2016, after watching hundreds use Snapchat and Periscope to live stream an Obama speech she attended. While online commerce continues to grow, it often lacks that kinetic energy that is found from being around others. And sellers struggle to grow amid a crowded online marketplace. </p><p>Popshop Live allows businesses to expand beyond traditional e-commerce engagement, giving customers the chance to be in a store along with thousands of other virtual guests. </p>
Popshop Live Demo Reel
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/435886105" width="100%" height="480" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4c65eda71fd4b09efe2e7c4534246785"></iframe><p>"I think our mission is really to inspire and empower people to expand their identity, experience and connection," she said.</p><p>Since the COVID-19 breakout, Li saw a jump in users joining the platform as businesses sought to keep their stores afloat.</p><p>Los Angeles boutiques such as Japan LA, Popkiller, 3D Retro, Leanna Lin's Wonderland, Poketo and BellaBar were forced to shut down their physical stores amid the pandemic. Instead, they turned to Popshop Live for support.</p><p>"We definitely feel honored that we have an opportunity to become a part of the recovering process for several local stores affected by not only COVID, but also by looting in Los Angeles," said Li.</p>
<p><br/></p><p>The application allows shops to share their livestream via their social platforms or to embed it online, while shoppers purchase directly from the stream.</p><p>Investors also include Long Journey Ventures, Cyan and Scott Banister, Shrug Capital, Backend Capital and Halogen Ventures. Local Los Angeles investors Watertower Ventures and AET Fund joined in the round.<br/></p><p>"Danielle and the Popshop Live team have created the best consumer shopping experience at a time when community and virtual connectedness are needed more than ever," said Ann Miura-Ko, co-founding partner at Floodgate, a seed stage venture capital firm in announcing their support. </p><p>Popshop Live is looking beyond brick-and-mortar stores and will host anyone looking to expand their audience from influencers to national retailers. But for now, it's invite only. </p><p>"We would like to see Popshop like a platform that people come to have fun, get inspired and connect to their community," said Li.</p>Related Articles Around the Web
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Here are the latest updates on news affecting Los Angeles' startup and tech communities. Sign up for our newsletter and follow dot.LA on Twitter for more.
Today:
- Snap Stock Closes 6% Up After Pompeo's TikTok Threat
- Could the U.S. Ban China-Based TikTok?
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Snap Stock Closes 6% Up After Pompeo's TikTok Threat
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://dot.la/media-library/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQ0MDk4NC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0ODg3NTk5OX0.G1PsKdW-h4gVGZ0k_12ltp3eCO1VkH6IfRP6hPSzc6s/image.jpg?width=980" id="e9a13" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5a81610e6918d3d6fd705458d371f4c4" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />silver iPhone 6 on top of yellow wooden surfacePhoto by Thought Catalog on Unsplash<p>Snap stock closed nearly 6% up on Tuesday after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. government is "looking at" a ban on Chinese social media apps, including TikTok, because of security concerns.</p><p>Snap didn't respond to a request for comment. TikTok said in a statement that it's a company that's led by an American CEO, with hundreds of employees and "key leaders" in safety, security, product and public policy in the U.S.<br></p><p>"We have no higher priority than promoting a safe and secure app experience for our users," the statement said. "We have never provided user data to the Chinese government, nor would we do so if asked."</p>Could the U.S. Ban Chinese-Owned TikTok?
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQ0MDg3Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0ODA0ODc0OH0.jiz5wtUGbDqa6Nqtj3gKbMLjYkzqIGqiBnGf2fv7PUE/img.jpg?width=980" id="d1531" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e0516651b157cf7c6c38cc2df952823f" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" /><p>The Trump Administration is "looking at" banning TikTok, the popular social media app owned by Chinese internet giant ByteDance, over concerns that information is being shared with Beijing.</p><p>Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/mike-pompeo-tik-tok-china-communist-social-media-spying-fox-ingraham" target="_blank"> Fox News</a> Monday that the United States is considering whether to restrict TikTok and other social media apps after India banned its use. <br></p><p>"We are taking this very seriously and we are certainly looking at it," Pompeo said. "With respect to Chinese apps on people's cell phones, I can assure you the United States will get this one right too...I don't want to get out in front of the president, but it's something we're looking at."</p><p>Pompeo warned American users that downloading the app would leave their private information "in the hands of the Chinese communist party."</p><p><span></span>Culver City-based TikTok, has around 30 million active users in the U.S. and is owned by Beijing-based technology firm ByteDance Ltd. The social media app has received much scrutiny from the national security community. It's no longer allowed on Australian Defense Department devices following a similar ban by the Pentagon due to national security concerns surrounding China's potential access to data.<br></p><p>At the end of June, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/29/india-bans-tiktok-and-dozens-of-other-chinese-apps-over-security-concerns.html" target="_blank">India joined the ranks of those banning TikTok</a>, restricting it and other Chinese social media apps due to security concerns.</p><p>ByteDance has said that all U.S. user data is stored in the United States and Singapore, not on Chinese servers.</p><p>Meanwhile, the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/06/technology/tiktok-google-facebook-twitter-hong-kong.html" target="_blank">New York Times</a> reported, TikTok is withdrawing its app from Hong Kong stores and making it inoperable there after the government began using broad new security laws aimed at blocking opposition to the communist party in the former British colony.<br></p><p>Facebook, Twitter and Google stopped processing Hong Kong's request for user data, according to the report, a move that could hurt their ad revenue.</p><p>TikTok isn't available in mainland China and the company has said that executives outside China run operations.</p><p>___</p><p><em>Do you have a story that needs to be told? My DMs are open on Twitter </em><a href="https://twitter.com/latams" target="_blank"><em>@latams</em></a><em>. You can also email me at tami(at)dot.la, or ask for my Signal.</em></p>Related Articles Around the Web
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Little more than a month after a much-hyped entry into big-budget video games, Amazon is pulling back "Crucible," its new free-to-play PC shooter, and moving the title to closed beta.
<p>"Crucible" is developed by Amazon-owned Relentless Studios, and <a href="https://www.playcrucible.com/en-us/news/articles/developer-update-crucible-beta" target="_blank">in a blog post on Tuesday</a>, franchise lead Colin Johanson cited the need to "focus on providing the best possible experience for our players as we continue to make the game better."</p><p>The game has failed to generate much positive traction. <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/30/21308638/amazon-game-studios-crucible-closed-beta-failure-relentless-studio" target="_blank">The Verge</a> said "lackluster characters, combat, and art style made it largely forgettable" and that "Crucible" also suffered from "a bit of an identity crisis by trying to be a bit of everything at once."</p><p>According to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-pulls-crucible-from-steam-2020-6" target="_blank">Business Insider</a>, "Crucible" had around 25,000 concurrent players at peak, the day after its launch. Two days after launch, it had already disappeared from Steam's top 100 — a list of most-played games on Steam that bottoms out around 5,000 concurrent players.</p><p>Players who have downloaded the game will still be able to play it through Steam.</p><p>"One of the biggest changes you'll see is that we're going to schedule dedicated time each week when we as devs will be playing with the community and soliciting feedback," Johanson wrote. "When we exit beta, it will be based on your feedback and the metrics that we see in-game."</p><p>The game was a litmus test of sorts for Amazon Game Studios as it looks to be a bigger player in the lucrative and crowded video game industry. Amazon acquired Twitch in 2014 for nearly $1 billion and established the games division eight years ago, but hasn't launched many original titles and ran into several hiccups with canceled projects and layoffs.</p><p><a href="https://www.geekwire.com/2020/lackluster-launch-amazon-pulls-crucible-back-closed-beta-weeks-games-release/" target="_blank">This story first appeared on GeekWire. </a></p>
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