Universe, a startup that offers a mobile-based website builder, has secured $10 million in Series A funding from Google Ventures.
The company started as a mobile-first landing page builder to help digital natives quickly build a website which can then be added to their profile on social media sites. Its modular builder utilises drag-and-drop blocks to add images, videos and content to create a mobile-first website within minutes.
The platform has now matured “from a landing page builder to a full-fledged website builder”, offering various customization options. There is an e-commerce solution as well available to individuals as well as small business owners aiming to showcase and sell their products and services online.
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Mobile first
According to Universe CEO Joseph Cohen, the company wants to focus on “people who don’t work at desks.” With its mobile-first approach, the company is aiming to take on market leaders like Shopify which focuses primarily on desktop websites.
Cohen says Shopify is “complex and not mobile-first” while Universe is a simple and user-friendly platform, making website creation easy for non-tech-savvy people.
Currently available only on iOS-powered mobile devices, Universe does not charge a commission out of the first $1000 of revenue. However, it plans to deduct a 10% share once the free phase is over.
Since the commission charged by Universe is higher than most of its competitions, it may impact its target user base who are mostly individuals. The company, according to Cohen, is working on a couple of other revenue options like offering multiple tiers such as a free and a paid premium tier with additional benefits like analytics and more.
Via: TechCrunch
