Toronto-based mobile commerce platform Reactiv has acquired its New York-based competitor Kin Commerce to expand its client base and integrate new social features.
“[Acquiring Kin] definitely wasn’t in my 2026 bingo card; I think part of it was kind of opportunistic,
Zack Elias, Reactiv
Reactiv was founded in 2023 by former Shopify employees. Co-founder and COO Zack Elias told BetaKit in an interview didn’t anticipate making any acquisitions this year, but when Kin, its US counterpart founded by ex-Meta employees in 2022, became available after its leaders pivoted to their new AI marketing startup, Reactiv jumped at the chance to grow its client base and potentially integrate its social media-style features.
The acquisition comes on the heels of Reactiv’s previously undisclosed $6-million USD ($8.5-million CAD) seed extension round, which closed earlier this year and brought its total external funding to date up to approximately $12 million USD.
Acquiring Kin “definitely wasn’t in my 2026 bingo card; I think part of it was kind of opportunistic,” Elias said. He added that Reactiv now cares for Kin’s big brands, like Steve Madden and Chubbies.
The cash-up-front deal closed in early September, but Elias did not disclose the purchase price. Since Kin’s team was pivoting to a new startup, the deal only includes Kin’s tech, intellectual property, and customers, plus one Kin engineer, bringing Reactiv’s headcount up to 31 employees.
Both Kin and Reactiv help e-commerce clients build their own AI-powered mobile apps with customer engagement and sales conversion features. While Reactiv stands out with its Clips feature, which places a segment of a retailer’s app within a shopper’s phone from an ad, Elias said Kin’s strength is in how it integrates social media features for retailers, giving its apps “For You” pages, forums, or pulling through Instagram posts.
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The acquisition “was a growth anchor for us, especially some of those strategic logos, like [powering] Steve Madden’s global stores,” Elias said. “But the parts that we’re interested in migrating into Reactiv longer term do fall around those social capabilities.”
For now, Reactiv is maintaining Kin as a separate product. Black Friday is coming up next month; it’s the e-commerce world’s “Super Bowl,” Elais explained, so no company wants to mess with their systems until that has passed. After that, Reactiv will look into integrating the two platforms into one.
The acquisition helps boost Reactiv’s organic growth, which has seen bigger clients over the past year. Elias said the company is powering upcoming apps for Indigo and Browns Shoes, and has struck some unexpected traction with major sports teams. It’s all part of a market trend, according to Elias, of big brands ditching their custom web and app developments in favour of bespoke commerce platforms. Elias noted Reitmans’ and Canada Goose’s recent migrations to Shopify as examples.
“They’re trying to move to a platform that is equally as capable, but perhaps there’s a lower total cost of ownership [or] it’s easier to manage,” Elias said. “Our pitch is very, very similar when we’re talking to those types of brands.”
Feature image courtesy Reactiv.