Female-founded
With the ramping up of the Metaverse into every aspect of our lives, we are witnessing a revolutionary paradigm of such technological magnitude that its repercussions — both positive and negative — are going to be felt for years. An area where the Metaverse will start to see early ramifications will be in online shopping. And Obsess, an NYC-based, female-founded, Augmented and Virtual Reality software startup for experiential shopping — set up by Neha Singh — has realized that potential far earlier than many others.
Reinventing the e-commerce interface so customers can discover products by categories, Obsess’ ultimate goal is to transform “online shopping into an experience”, replacing the outdated “grid ecom interface that hasn’t changed since it was created by Amazon 25 years ago to sell books.”
Obsess is Leading the Shopping Revolution
Its proprietary technology allows brands and retailers to serve 3D 360 shopping experiences on their websites, mobile apps and social channels via our 3D Commerce Cloud.
With virtual stores and a Metaverse online shopping platform that enable users to create virtual stores and virtual worlds, selling physical and digital products, this is definitely the next generation of a shopping experience.
Boasting a customer base that includes Ralph Lauren, Christian Dior, Tommy Hilfiger and other prestigious companies, Obsess is a startup that’s taking its mission very, very seriously.
In a statement in VentureBeat in January, CEO and Founder Neha Singh, said:
“Our data indicate that the majority of younger consumers want to be able to shop their favourite brands anywhere they go online, including on metaverse platforms. These shoppers have grown up with online videogames, esports and social media and many of them see the emerging metaverse as a modern-day mall — a connected virtual world where they can hang out, shop and socialize. For retail brands, these survey findings highlight the importance of creating sound metaverse commerce strategies today that will resonate with consumers over the coming years.”
Founder Neha Singh started off her career as a software engineer in Silicon Valley before taking a position as a Senior Software Engineer at Google. VP of Product & Engineering at e-commerce startup AHAlife followed. Two years later, Singh moved to Vogue as Head of Product, where she was responsible for product strategy, roadmap, user experience, tech execution and analysis of Vogue’s digital business including content products, ad products and distribution platforms.
After leaving Vogue in 2016, she founded Obsess.
As a pioneer of the Metaverse, and in particular the e-commerce vertical within it, for Obsess to scale will need some serious capital. So far, the startup has raised a total of $13.5 million in funding over four rounds, enough for Singh and her team to make an impression on the nascent technological universe.
For more market insights, check out our latest metaverse news here.
