E-commerce startup Lolli, which gives shoppers bitcoin rewards for online purchases at retailers like Sephora, just attracted investment from the YouTube beauty queen herself, Michelle Phan.
The $3 million seed round with Phan and Ashton Kutcherâs VC firm, Sound Ventures, marks roughly $5.4 million in total capital raised by Lolli so far. Pathfinder, the early-stage investment arm of Peter Thielâs Founders Fund, led this recent round with participation from Bain Capital Ventures, Craft Ventures and Digital Currency Group, CoinDeskâs parent company.
âWe have an incredible syndicate of strategic investors that will help drive the adoption of Lolli and bitcoin forward,â Lolli CEO Alex Adelman said in a press statement. Â
As of this week, Phanâs fans can use Lolli to earn bitcoin rewards when shopping directly on her Em Cosmetics website. Adelman said the funding will be used to launch Lolliâs mobile app this summer and expand the company internationally throughout 2020.
The e-commerce landscape has shifted dramatically since Lolli launched in 2018. In short, people are shopping more online and managing their money through apps. For example, Shopify revenues reportedly jumped 47% in Q1 2020 and Square, a fintech app that also offers bitcoin, is participating in mainstream programs like the U.S. governmentâs emergency Paycheck Protection Program. This means itâs easier than ever for people to earn and spend a variety of currencies from home.Â
Read more: Bitcoin Revenue in Squareâs Cash App Tops Fiat Revenue for First Time in Q1
From Adelmanâs perspective, Squareâs patent for converting fiat-to-crypto is a âgame-changerâ for the retail industry.Â
âItâs arguably the most important patent in the payments space that will affect cryptocurrency over the next 10 years,â Adelman said. âItâs an air-swap where someone can pay with whatever currency they want and also the merchant can accept whatever currency they want.â
This relates to Lolli because the startupâs primary business partners are retailers and merchants looking for shoppers to come directly to homepages instead of Amazon. For example, Em Cosmetics fans can earn bitcoin by shopping on the homepage and learn about it through the brandâs social media channels. People looking to liquidate those earnings can easily do so with mainstream apps like Cash App or Strike, even if theyâre not interested in using an exchange account.  Â
âBitcoin is going to have a huge impact on everything,â Phan said. âIâm thrilled to work with Lolli to help educate and bring Bitcoin to the masses.â