Upscribe Raises $4M to Fuel DTC Subscription Growth

Upscribe Secures $4 Million Seed Funding to Revolutionize Subscription E-commerce

Dileepan Siva, founder and CEO of Upscribe, observed a significant industry-wide transition towards subscription-based e-commerce for tangible goods over the last ten years, prompting him to launch his own venture in 2019.

Based in Los Angeles, Upscribe is dedicated to developing subscription management software tailored for direct-to-consumer e-commerce businesses.

Addressing Key Macro Trends

This marks Siva’s fourth startup endeavor and his inaugural experience as a founding CEO. He successfully completed a $4 million seed funding round, capitalizing on two prominent trends he’s identified.

• The increasing prevalence of recurring purchases for physical products, such as consumer-packaged goods.
• The expansion of subscription models into new sectors, including automotive and fashion industries.

Empowering Merchants with Subscription Tools

Upscribe’s technology empowers merchants to foster subscriber acquisition, minimize customer churn, and facilitate personalized subscription experiences.

Customers gain the ability to manage their subscriptions by skipping deliveries, exchanging products, and adjusting order frequencies.

Brands can also strategically present products for upselling throughout the entire customer journey, from initial checkout to post-purchase engagement.

Seamless Integration and Scalability

Upscribe provides robust APIs, enabling integration with popular tools like Klaviyo, Segment, and Shopify – including a dedicated subscription offering for streamlined checkouts.

Investment Highlights

Uncork Capital spearheaded the seed round, with participation from Leaders Fund, The House Fund, Roach Capitals’ Fahd Ananta, and Shippo CEO Laura Behrens Wu.

Jeff Clavier, founder and managing partner of Uncork Capital, stated, “As the D2C subscription market expands, brands prioritizing subscriptions require solutions for growth and scalability.”

He further noted, “Upscribe’s focus on the merchant experience sets a new standard for subscription services, resolving customer experience issues and enabling merchants to cultivate subscriber engagement and boost recurring revenue.”

From Bootstrapped Beginnings to Venture Funding

Initially self-funded, Siva pursued venture capital to facilitate a more merchant-focused strategy, necessitating expansion of the team.

He emphasized that the core value lies in data analysis and creating an exceptional user experience.

Impressive Growth and Customer Base

The company is experiencing a quarterly growth rate of 43% and is nearing profitability, largely driven by customer referrals.

Upscribe currently serves clients such as Athletic Greens, Four Sigmatic, and True Botanicals, spanning diverse verticals like food and beverage, health and wellness, beauty, cosmetics, and home care.

Future Expansion and Market Opportunity

The new funding will be allocated to capitalize on the anticipated growth of brands adopting subscription models.

Forecasts predict the DTC subscription market will reach $478 billion by 2025, with 75% of brands expected to offer subscriptions within the next two years.

Consequently, a significant portion of the funding will be used to recruit additional personnel, particularly in product development, customer success, and go-to-market strategies.

Differentiating Upscribe from the Competition

While competition exists, many competitors concentrate on transaction processing, whereas Upscribe prioritizes building strong customer relationships.

The rising cost of customer acquisition underscores the importance of subscription services in converting one-time purchasers into loyal, recurring customers.

“The emphasis is truly on fostering customer relationships and maintaining continuous engagement between merchants and subscribers,” Siva explained.

“The landscape has shifted; the initial growth phase reliant on inexpensive social media advertising is no longer sustainable.”