skio Raises $3.7M to Enhance Shopify Subscriptions

Skio Secures $3.7 Million Seed Funding to Simplify Shopify Subscriptions

Skio, a new company focused on streamlining subscription sales for brands utilizing the Shopify platform, has successfully completed a $3.7 million seed funding round.

The startup was established in April by Kennan Davison, a former engineer with experience at both Hulu and Pinterest.

From Fintech to Infrastructure

Davison characterizes Skio as operating within both the fintech and infrastructure sectors. This positioning represents a strategic shift from a prior concept that progressed through the Y Combinator program.

Skio directly challenges established players like ReCharge Payments, a prominent provider of subscription software for e-commerce businesses, which was recently valued at $2.1 billion following a $227 million investment.

The New York-based company empowers Shopify brands by overseeing payment management and scheduling. It also develops customer-facing tools, including subscription management portals and SMS-based subscription services.

Modern Frameworks for Accelerated Development

Skio asserts that its utilization of contemporary development frameworks enables a significantly faster build process compared to current market offerings.

“Our accelerated development cycle allows us to surpass existing solutions by offering features like one-click checkout with Shop Pay, enhancing conversion rates; passwordless login, reducing support requests; 10x faster subscription modifications; a readily available headless subscription portal for instant loading; tiered subscription discounts; and simplified migration from ReCharge,” Davison explained.

Growing Customer Base

Skio is already demonstrating traction, having secured a diverse clientele including Bev, MatchaBar, Remedy Organics, Quokka Brew, Muddy Bites, Barukas, Simulate, Red Bay, Dandelion Chocolate, Siete Foods, Doe Lashes, and Backbone.

Davison noted, “We initially focused on smaller Shopify merchants. Currently, we are onboarding larger customers transitioning from ReCharge.”

Founder's Background and Vision

Davison’s experience with subscription models dates back to his high school years, where he began developing web solutions for a subscription box company, Conscious Box.

He subsequently held an engineering role at Hulu, where he created an application for managing subscription discounts. Later, as a growth engineer at Pinterest, he conducted over 200 A/B tests aimed at improving user conversion rates.

While currently focused on Shopify merchants, Skio’s long-term ambition is to extend its services to businesses across “all of the internet.”

Seed Funding Details

Adjacent led Skio’s seed funding round. The firm was founded last year by Nico Wittenborn, with a specific focus on mobile-first subscription businesses.

Wittenborn previously worked at Point Nine Capital and Insight Partners, and has invested in companies such as Calm, Revolut, Prose, Oura, and Reflectly.

The financing also included participation from a number of angel investors, including Daniel Rutberg and Moody Nashawaty of MuteSix, Shaan Puri, Jeremy Cai (CEO of Italic), James Beshara (co-founder of Tilt and founder of Magic Mind), Julian Shapiro, Sahil Bloom, and founders and executives from Immi, Thingtesting, Taika, Smile.io, Literati, Linjer, Raycon, Cresicor, Carted, Orchard Analytics, and Cohere.

Future Plans

Skio currently employs five individuals and intends to allocate the newly acquired capital towards product development and expanding its engineering team.

“Given that I initiated this venture independently, we are well-positioned to offer substantial equity to highly qualified candidates,” Davison stated.

Wittenborn, the lead investor, shared that he had been closely monitoring the Shopify ecosystem, drawing on his experience with infrastructure investments in other rapidly growing sectors like crypto (Chainalysis), mobile (RevenueCat), and Salesforce (OwnBackup).

“Upon meeting Kennan, it became clear that he was developing a foundational component for Shopify-based subscription services. Subsequent discussions with his team and potential customers confirmed that his product offered greater promise and flexibility than existing alternatives,” Wittenborn explained. “ReCharge currently holds a dominant market position, but has become complacent, creating an opportunity for a more responsive, integrated product with superior customer support.”