Ina Herlihy is on a mission to revolutionize the world of e-commerce. According to Herlihy, relying on third-party community sites such as Reddit and Facebook Groups is causing e-commerce brands to miss out on valuable organic traffic and potential revenue.
With the cost of acquiring new users increasing, some brands are now shifting their focus to retaining existing users and driving organic traffic. Herlihy emphasizes the importance of building an onsite community to achieve these goals, as it allows brands to increase retention and drive more organic traffic within their own domain.
In late 2022, Herlihy set out to build community software that enables brands to host their own communities on their websites. The result of her efforts? AddGlow – a groundbreaking platform that is set to shake up the $17 trillion e-commerce market.
“Owned community is the next big marketing channel for e-commerce brands,” Herlihy stated. “Currently, brands tend to foster community through Facebook Groups, but there are gaps that need to be addressed for both customers and brands. For instance, customers lack context on who is posting, and this is something we solve with our detailed user profiles. By owning the data, brands can also streamline the purchasing process for their customers.”
So, how does AddGlow work? The New York-based startup collects data via profile attributes specified by the brand – such as skin concern, hair type, or favorite type of shoe – and then uses this data to personalize various elements of the website, including the homepage, product descriptions, emails, and SMS.
In addition, AddGlow seamlessly integrates with a brand’s catalog, allowing community members to tag products when mentioning them. This means that site visitors can easily add products to their cart without leaving the community – streamlining the purchasing process even further.
But that’s not all. AddGlow also offers an onsite loyalty program based on user engagement, where community members can earn points for completing certain actions, such as completing their profile, posting and replying. This program is fully customizable to suit the brand’s needs.
Despite being in the early stages of development, AddGlow has already secured $1.7 million in pre-seed funding to propel the platform into its next phase. Herlihy attributes the successful fundraising process to her unique perspective and determination as a “non-technical solo founder” with a powerful idea.
The round was co-led by Stellation Capital and Precursor Ventures and joined by other strategic investors, including former Walmart executive Jeff Shotts, StockX co-founder Chris Kaufman, former Glossier president Henry Davis, Zumper co-founder and CEO Anthemos Georgiades, and Walker & Company Brands founder Tristan Walker.
Herlihy had this to say about her experience with the venture capital process: “I met both Peter Boyce II (Stellation) and Charles Hudson (Precursor) via founder friends. Before and during fundraising, I asked tech friends which VCs they were most impressed by for pre-seed founders, and Charles’ and Peter’s names came up the most. So I knew I needed them on my cap table.”
The new capital has allowed Herlihy to bring on board a team of talented engineers and a designer with previous experience at top brands such as Walmart, Nike, eBay, Google, and Twitch. After a year focused on product development, the second year for AddGlow will be all about driving revenue.
“We initially partnered with smaller brands, but now we’re focused on building additional functionality to support larger brands as well,” Herlihy disclosed. “At its core, AddGlow promotes a sense of belonging for its community members by providing a safe space for seeking personal advice and building meaningful connections.”
The future looks bright for AddGlow and e-commerce brands who want to take control of their communities and drive growth organically. As the saying goes, sometimes the best things come from within – and Herlihy’s AddGlow is a testament to that.
