Online retailer Shopa puts up shutters after three years

DOTCOM darling Shopa, which promised to reinvent online shopping through social sharing, has stopped trading after three years in business.

The start-up, which was launched by serial entrepreneur Peter Janes in 2012, encouraged users to share purchases online through the app, incentivising them with vouchers.

However, shoppers were more tightlipped about their purchases than hoped, and despite attracting 1m users, fear that followers might buy the same frocks outweighed the desire for discounts. The business hit a wall, Business In

sider reported, despite raising a significant tranche of cash late last year.

At £6.5m, the round was one of the largest early-stage investments ever made into a UK start-up. The business has raised two rounds of venture capital funding, one in May 2013 and then again in September 2014. Octopus Capital invested in the round alongside fellow venture capital firm Notion Capital.

Octopus tech investor Luke Hakes, who was also on Shopa’s board, confirmed that the company was going through “a challenging period”.

According to documents filed at Companies House, Mr Janes left the company on August 4. Several directors have left since the start of the year. Chief technology officer James Neville left earlier this month and technical director and co-founder Ziyad Makki stepped down as a director in May.

Shopa, which has 45 staff and offices in London, New York, Mumbai and Shanghai, posted a statement on its website confirming that the service was shutting down. “It is with much sadness and heavy hearts that we have closed our doors,” the company wrote, thanking users for their ongoing support.