Who is Little Birdie?
Australian e-commerce startup Little Birdie has been making headlines after its recent round of funding. Little Birdie is an AI-driven online shopping site with over 70 million products consumers can track, search and compare.
With Little Birdie making waves lately, let us take a look at some interesting facts about the company that you might not know.
#1: It was a struggle to come up with the name ‘Little Birdie’
For all the business and entrepreneurial experience that the founding team had amassed, there were some challenges when it came to naming the company.
Back when the company was first founded in October 2020, Little Birdie had gone through four name changes within the month. Eventually, the name ‘Little Birdie’ was suggested and it has stuck since then with an aim to target younger consumers.
#2: Their goal is to be the new homepage of online shopping
As opposed to countries like the United States where Amazon, the largest e-commerce retailer, dominates the market, Australian consumers prefer to spend a bit more time comparing prices across numerous platforms, especially large marketplaces such as Catch, The Iconic, and eBay.
With this in mind, Little Birdie has over 70 million products from various brands and stores for consumers to browse through, aiming to become “the new homepage of online shopping,” — the first place shoppers look at when they want to purchase something.
On this platform, shoppers can be notified of price drops, exclusive offers, discounts and sales events through AI technology and its community of shoppers.
Indeed, according to Little Birdie CEO Jon Beros, he said,
“With over 70 million products to search, compare, track and share from Australia’s favorite retailers, Little Birdie is the homepage of online shopping. Savvy Aussies can access personalized shopping content driven by AI algorithms, as well as discover brands, products and exclusive offers they didn’t know they were looking for.”
#3: They recently raised $30 million AUD before even launching
Besides bringing their valuation to around $100 million USD, this impressive feat makes their fundraising the largest ever for an Australian startup that has yet to launch!
This fresh round of funding from Australia’s largest bank, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), will be used to enhance Little Birdie’s platform and rapidly expand its reach internationally.
#4: Their partnership with Commonwealth Bank of Australia marks a shift in Australian e-commerce
In addition to the $30 million AUD backing from Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), Little Birdie will also further integrate its e-commerce offer with CBA’s CommBank app, merging banking and e-commerce to allow users to shop while they bank.
According to CBA group executive Angus Sullivan, he shared that with more Australians looking towards their banking apps to help them with financial management, the tie-up with Little Birdie is an extension of this trend, allowing them to “seamlessly blend banking and shopping and bring the experience together.”
As part of their partnership, Little Birdie will gain access to CBA’s 11 million customer base to further their global expansion plans, while CBA customers will receive industry-leading deals.
#5: Their co-founders bring a wealth of experience in e-commerce
Little Birdie is currently led by co-founder and CEO Jon Beros, co-founder, CTO and COO Russell Proud, co-founder Kalman Polak, and partnerships head Guy Polak. Each executive brings over a decade of experience in the e-commerce space, with all of them having worked and led teams in some of the biggest e-commerce companies such as Catch Group and Scoopon.
With such an experienced line-up, it is exciting to see how Little Birdie rapidly expands in the coming months and years ahead!
About Little Birdie
Little Birdie is an AI-driven online shopping site with over 70 million products consumers can track, search and compare.
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