Other investors in ShopSavvy include Brad Martin, former CEO of Saks, who also sits on the boards of FedEx, Dillard’s, Lululemon athletic, and Pilot Travel Centers. ShopSavvy, which launched in 2008, already has 40,000 partnerships with retailers, such as Walmart, Target and Best Buy; its technology helps provide consumers with real-time pricing and product information.
Saverin, who left Facebook several years ago after a falling out with Mark Zuckerberg, announced his investment on his Facebook page, outlining his confidence in ShopSavvy:
I believe one of the biggest pain points today in the roll-out of e-commerce is the distinct separation between the online stores and the physical brick and mortar shops, where most purchases still happen today. If you are at Walmart, for example, and looking to purchase ...a particular electronic product, you would not only want to see the package and the information there, but also: 1) More info on the product, including reviews from experts, 2) Pricing on the products both online and in other stores near you and 3) Special deals and discounts on the product both at the store your on or elsewhere and, 4) The ability to execute a purchase outside of Walmart right then and there if you like, with little effort. And much much more.
Have you tried Shopsavvy yet? If not, please do and let me know what you think! Excited to see how technology can make us more efficient consumers going forward.
The young billionaire, just 29, has apparently sold more than half of his Facebook stake and has an estimated cash pile of more than $600 million; he has invested some of that money in at least four young companies in the past year including ShopSavvy.
In January he led an $8 million round of financing in Qwiki, which works to improve the way people experience information online. In March, he led a $6.5 million round in Jumio, whose first product, online payment method Netswipe, uses a webcam as a verification device. He also apparently is an investor and advisor to Denso, a Singapore company (he now lives in Singapore), that launched what he described as a “Flipboard for Video,” free for use on the iPad, iPhone and Android devices.
It is too early to know which of his bets will pay off but, with his cash and his high profile endorsements of the companies he backs, he’s clearly an attractive investor to land. Watch for him to make more investments in the months and years to come.
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