Ex-TikTok execs land funding for social commerce start-up Unbox

A pair of former TikTok executives have raised a seven-figure sum from a group of investors to fund the development of their social commerce management start-up.

Sky News understands that Hugo Soul and Michael Coombs, who worked together at the social media giant's TikTok Shop division, have secured £1.2m for Unbox in a funding round led by Mercuri, an early-stage investor focused on companies at the intersection of media, entertainment and AI. The round has also been backed by Love Ventures and Notion Capital.

Money latest: Common insurance that's probably a waste of money... Unbox, which has signed up clients including Mars Wrigley and Omnicom Media Group, is positioning itself as a key layer of infrastructure in the fast-growing social commerce arena.

It says it has already processed millions of shoppable video clips along with proprietary sales data which is used to augment its AI models. The company is chaired by Dan Cobley, a former top Google UK executive who is also among Unbox's financial backers.

Estimates suggest social commerce is forecast to generate a staggering $6 trillion in global sales by the end of this decade as platforms including TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and Pinterest expand their deployment of shoppable content formats. "Every major social platform is becoming shoppable, and every global brand will need infrastructure to make social commerce deliver," Mr Soul said.

"We know from our experience at TikTok Shop both the scale of the opportunity and the structural challenges enterprises face. "Unbox is building the platform to power sustainable growth in this new channel, helping the world's biggest brands sell through social with confidence." Alongside Mr Cobley, other angel investors in Unbox include Rich Waterworth, a former general manager of TikTok Europe, and Claire Hennah, who was Unilever's chief digital commerce officer.

Alan Hudson, founding general partner at Mercuri, said Unbox's founders "bring real depth of experience, and the shift towards social commerce is only accelerating across platforms". "Brands are looking for better ways to work with creators and Unbox's data-driven approach is very well positioned to meet this increasing demand," he said.

Reputable infrastructure providers are seen as a critical ingredient in the development of social commerce amid fast-evolving regulatory standards around the world. Read more from Sky News:125 jobs to go at Lindsey oil refineryMost ransomware victims pay up - with mixed results "Unbox gave us the confidence to scale on TikTok Shop without compromising our standards," said Eric Lucari, global digital commerce sales director at Mars.

He described the start-up as "a critical partner as we expand our social commerce efforts"..