Hubba closes $3.1 million in seed funding, blows past growth targets

Hubba

Hubba, a cloud-based product information network has doubled its team, raised a $3.1M seed round from Brightspark, The Social  + Capital Partnerships, and other investors, and blew past the growth targets, onboarding over 1,000 companies in just five months.

Hubba provides a product information platform for brands, distributors, vendors and retailers to manage and share product information like product descriptions, reviews, images, videos and marketing assets, all in one place.

“We’re in a B2B software space, helping brands, retailers and trade partners to share product information. Today, product information sharing isn’t efficient, to the point where only 25 per cent of product information consumers look at is accurate. Brands are overwhelmed with the amount of rich and unstructured product information, from video, images, marketing materials, to consumer reviews, size, and product specs,” Howard Lis, COO of Hubba told BetaKit.  

“All of that information is challenging to share, maintain and update to accommodate a barrage of requests from retailers, marketers working on product flyers and copy, e-commerce sites and trading partners’ needs. Hubba is a simple easy-to-use platform that pulls together a source of truth, so that everyone gets consistent, updated information coming directly from the brand,” said Lis.

Hubba takes its own product information management platform to the next level with a networking component, allowing buyers, retailers, brand managers and marketers to connect with each other, chat about specific products, and get in front of potential buyers in a highly competitive retail space. Hubba product feed, reminiscent of a Facebook news feed, gives an overview of new and interesting products from a wide variety of brands, ranging from large Unilever brands to smaller more niche brands like boxx cosmetics.

“We saw a critical need for a network that empowers information sharing and doesn’t look or function like traditional enterprise software,” said Ben Zifkin, founder and CEO of Hubba. “The best way to make the lives of marketers and salespeople better is to provide them with tools that are easy to use, make them more effective at their job and encourage engagement with their colleagues and business partners.”

Hubba is an emerging force in Toronto’s startup ecosystem, thanks to its support of Ladies Learning Code, active and engaged leadership, and an open-door policy. Zifkin and team share experiences, mentor other entrepreneurs, and encourage startups to support nonprofits in creative ways, such as donating stock options instead of cash through The Upside Foundation of Canada.  

Located at MaRS, Toronto’s best known innovation hub, this rapidly growing startup has made it to the Top 20 Most Innovative Companies in Canada by CIX and Technology Fast 50 Companies to Watch by Deloitte.

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Elena Yunusov

Elena Yunusov works at the intersection of digital communications and experience design. She is known in Toronto’s startup community as a HoHoTO & Toronto Maker Faire co-organizer. She likes coffee, robots, and wearable tech.

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