Just one year after being launched on Shopify (2021), Virtue closed a pre-seed round led by SFC Capital, and has also joined the prestigious Techstars accelerator.
“We were delighted to have led Virtue’s latest funding round. With the rapid growth in socially-conscious consumers, it is imperative that retailers are able to continue to retain and attract these individuals by doing their bit to solve some of the biggest issues facing the planet and societies. Virtue’s easy-to-integrate technology allows them to do this in a simple and effective manner. The team behind the company is extremely passionate and we are excited to see what the future holds for the company”, Ed Stevenson, Investment Executive at SFC Capital.
The platform gained over 230 eCommerce users and enabled thousands of UK retailers and shoppers to make a meaningful social and environmental impact from product sales by teaming up with good causes.
Stores giving through Virtue so far made sales of over £1.9M from 35,000 orders with social impact.
To date, over 600 stores in the UK have used Virtue.
"Brand values are more important than ever to consumers, and studies show that investment in social impact partnerships has a positive ROI. It's a win, win, win, for causes, retailers, and consumers. We are stoked to be backed by two incredibly reputable and active investors in realizing Virtue’s vision”, says Mariya Kupriyenko, CEO of Virtue.
Virtue App, which can be added to Shopify sites, lets retailers partner with causes, give from product sales and engage customers with impact updates. Brands can support initiatives such as plastic and carbon off-setting, helping disadvantaged communities and more.
Working with Shopify retailers has been incredibly fruitful and now Virtue is looking to expand into the global market and eventually branch out to other leading ecommerce platforms,
The team is currently focused on growing its curated community of causes, ecosystem of ESG partners and building exciting new shopper engagement features on the app.