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§ Private Profile · London, United Kingdom
B2B e-commerce platform connecting designers, architects, retailers, and brands for trade furniture and home furnishings.
Based in London, United Kingdom, eporta operates as a B2B e-commerce platform and wholesale marketplace connecting interior designers, architects, and retail buyers with commercial furniture and lighting brands. Before shutting down its primary marketplace operations, the platform facilitated global trade across more than 80 countries, listing nearly 30,000 products from over 500 international industry suppliers. The company provided specialized trade access and order management software to prominent design brands and corporate customers, including Flos, Herman Miller, Tom Dixon, and Muuto. Operating with a peak workforce of 149 employees and generating under $5 million in annual revenue, the business eventually transitioned its strategic focus toward its proprietary TradeHub software. Following this operational shift in 2022, the enterprise was acquired by e-commerce technology corporation Shopify for an undisclosed financial amount. eporta was originally founded in 2015 by Aneeqa Khan.
eporta has raised $11.0M across 2 funding rounds.
eporta has raised $11.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
eporta has raised $11.0M across 2 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $8.0M Series A in April 2018.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 1, 2018 | $8M Series A | Canvas Ventures | 2150, Hambro Perks, IN Q TEL, MMC Ventures, Andre Haddad, Edward Wray, GUY Hands, Rohan Blacker, Simon Kain, William Cooper, LocalGlobe, Samos Investments, Talis Capital | Announced |
| Sep 1, 2016 | $3M Seed | — | 2150, Hambro Perks, IN Q TEL, MMC Ventures | Announced |
eporta is a UK-based technology company that operates a trade-only B2B sourcing platform and marketplace for interiors, connecting interior designers, architects, property developers, retailers, and offices with global manufacturers of furniture, lighting, and accessories.[1][3][4] It serves buyers in over 85 countries by offering direct access to over 1,000 sellers in 55 countries, enabling savings of up to 50% off retail prices through a commission-based model free for buyers.[1][5] The platform solves inefficiencies in the $700 billion interiors industry by digitizing sourcing, quoting, ordering, and payments in one place, with early clients including Hilton, Accenture, Ted Baker, and Charlotte Tilbury.[1][4] Founded in 2014-2015, eporta raised $8 million in Series A funding in 2019 and was acquired by Shopify, accelerating its scale in design trade e-commerce.[1][3][4]
eporta was founded by Manchester-born, Oxford-educated Aneeqa Khan, who previously led strategy at Zoopla during its £919 million IPO, alongside technical co-founder Simon Shillaker, a university friend.[1] The idea emerged from Khan's experience in property marketplaces, aiming to disrupt the slow, cumbersome interiors sourcing process by creating the world's largest online database of trade manufacturers.[1][4] Early traction came from VC backing by investors like Robin Klein (Lastminute.com), Rohan Blacker (sofa.com), and Paul Hsiao (Houzz), plus firms including Canvas Ventures, LocalGlobe, and Oxford Capital, culminating in an $8 million Series A in 2019 after a £2.4 million seed.[1][4] Pivotal growth included expanding to 1,500 brands and Shopify's acquisition, integrating eporta's TradeHub SaaS tool for brand e-commerce.[3][4]
eporta rides the wave of B2B e-commerce digitization in design and furnishings, accelerated by COVID-driven online shifts, positioning it amid consolidation like Material Bank's Clippings acquisition.[3] Timing aligns with Shopify's explosive growth (1.7M merchants, $119B GMV by 2020), making eporta's acquisition strategic for Shopify to dominate design trade tools as an industry-specific "Shopify for interiors."[3] Market forces favoring it include the $700B interiors market's fragmentation, demand for wholesale efficiency, and SaaS enablement for brands avoiding Amazon-like marketplaces.[1][3][4] It influences the ecosystem by fostering competition in design e-commerce software, enabling smaller designers' global access, and scaling Shopify's B2B footprint in Europe and beyond.[3][5]
Post-Shopify acquisition, eporta is poised to expand TradeHub globally, powering more brand sites and challenging rivals like Material Bank in a budding design e-commerce stack.[3] Trends like AI-driven sourcing, further B2B marketplace growth, and omnichannel retail will shape it, potentially integrating Shopify's merchant tools for seamless wholesale-to-DTC transitions. Its influence may evolve from niche marketplace to core infrastructure for interiors pros, amplifying Shopify's scale while redefining trade sourcing—building on its founder-led disruption of an analog industry.[1][3]
eporta has raised $11.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
eporta's investors include Canvas Ventures, 2150, Hambro Perks, In-Q-Tel, MMC Ventures, Andre Haddad, Edward Wray, Guy Hands, rohan blacker, Simon Kain, William Cooper, LocalGlobe.