“Imagine seeing a product that interests you in the window of a closed shop. Or on television, during a spot. What you have to do is just take a picture and, immediately, buy it”. Speaking is Dan Wagner, a 51-year-old English entrepreneur, founder of Powa, a start-up that in less than two years has raised almost 100 million dollars and which intends to revolutionize the world of online shopping. The service he describes is Powa Tag, a futuristic system that allows you to buy something simply by taking a photo. The launch is scheduled for next month worldwide, including Italy.
The online commerce sector is rapidly evolving. And the direction is dictated, as with all Internet services, by mobile devices, whether they are smartphones or tablets. The watchword is to do everything everywhere and in the shortest possible time. Something unthinkable until a few years ago, when consumer doubts were still strong.
“I remember the first time I bought something online – Dan Wagner tells Firstonline – It was an article in the Economist and it happened a long time ago, in 1985. I did it through MAID, a web platform that I had created year before [Wagner's first web adventure, a database that aggregated market research information, ed], and it was probably one of the first online transactions at the time. I was excited and worried at the same time: was anyone really interested in shopping in this new and different way? The article was 600 words long and it took 15 minutes for all the text to appear character by character on the screen.”
What products does Powa Technologies offer?
“In 2007 I founded Powa Technologies because I wanted to create a portfolio of solutions that could really allow sellers to have multi-channel (or, better, omni-channel) commerce. We have three products: PowaWeb, PowaPos and PowaTag. The first is an online shopping platform, the second is a mobility-oriented POS platform for points of sale and PowaTag, which allows consumers to buy something simply by taking a picture of it. The three products together will completely change the way consumers interact with stores. And the data captured by sellers will allow them to provide an increasingly individual and tailored service.”
You connect the consumers, who take the photo, with the shops. Which companies will make use of your technology?
“I cannot at this moment mention the names of our partners. What I can say is that we have many important names in the retail trade, in Europe and in the United States, including Italy.”
The sector is dominated by giants such as Amazon or Ebay. How difficult is it for a startup to enter this market and grow?
“In our case, it wasn't difficult. Our proposal is convincing where the market needs transformation. We want to change the rules of the game. We will have a revolutionary impact on all sales interfaces, from smartphones to tablets.”
Last year you raised $76 million. Now you have got another 20,7. Who financed you?
“The $96,7 million investment, a record for a British tech firm, comes primarily from one of the world's largest institutional investors, Wellington Management, a Boston firm with $774 billion under management.”
How will you spend it?
“Part of this investment will be used to build a support infrastructure for all of our products. And then we will hire hundreds of people in the next few years, in Italy and in the rest of the world.”
It's a pretty large sum. Does that mean that the ecommerce industry is considered pretty profitable?
“It means that there is a real and genuine need for a technology for commerce that is disruptive. PowaTag will be launched next month and is already making waves in the industry.”
Will it be launched at the same time in Italy too?
“PowaTag will be available worldwide. We want to enter all the main European markets and Italy is one of them. We already have an office in Milan: Italy is certainly one of the areas where we want to leave an important footprint.”
