Launched this week in the heart of Shoreditch is StreetHub, an online marketplace of independent retailers. The goal, says co-founder Mandeep Singh, is to make it easier to discover unique products and cool shops all around. Singh and Maxim Berglund worked together at BC Partners, and it was here that they formulated an idea based on a system of ‘click and collect’ to help independent retailers. Singh and Berglund hit a stump when they couldn’t figure out how to build it. Fortune went their way and they soon met Alex Loizou, their CTO and one of Entrepreneur First’s inaugural cohort, in Google Campus. From these circumstances, StreetHub was born.
Through geo-location technology combined with proprietary live inventory data, StreetHub digitally shows the user what’s in the physical shops around them. The user selects their chosen neighbourhood and StreetHub will display its recommendations of the best homeware and fashion. Everything on the site is virtually handpicked – from the products featured to the actual shops. Any device can be used to browse StreetHub – from a desktop, a sofa, or on the bus. It’s ‘click and collect’, so items are reserved and then picked up when it’s more convenient.
Having been founded in Shoreditch, the area is vital to StreetHub’s operations. They are also based in Dalston, Stoke Newington, Islington, and in western locations, in Bloomsbury and Notting Hill. StreetHub’s notable retailers include the jewelry atelier, Thor & Wistle, the fashion and lifestyle boutique, Soboye, and Lik + Neon on Brick Lane.
When asked about future plans for the business, Singh added “We’re adding more of the best independent shops to StreetHub every day. We’re looking to roll out to new neighbourhoods in London and then other cities in the UK.”
