Chord announced this week that it raised $15 million to build upon its software that helps e-commerce startups access headless technology and data infrastructure without needing to hire an engineering team to maintain it.
NYC-based Chord was co-founded by Bryan Mahoney and Henry Davis, who are both former executives at direct-to-consumer beauty company Glossier. Mahoney and Davis started Chord in 2021 when they realized the technical infrastructure they developed at Glossier could be valuable to other e-commerce companies through a platform-as-a-service model.
Chord’s platform provides e-commerce companies with headless tech software in which the back end of the website is separated from the consumer-facing front end. This allows brands to easily launch and scale new products and functionalities. The platform also provides data infrastructure that integrates into a brand’s existing software to provide data collection, modeling and insights.
“Brands need easy access to the accurate data and key features that modern commerce requires, minus the vast expense and operational pain to attain it,” Mahoney, Chord’s CEO, said in a statement. “We’re giving them the freedom and ability to work on their companies — building, growing and perfecting them — without stressing over the technical side.”
The company is classifying the new funding as an extension to its $18 million Series A round raised in 2021. The $15 million extension was co-led by new investor Bright Pixel Capital and existing investor Eclipse.
Chord will use the funding to expand its data capabilities and support the product’s availability to larger customers. The startup also plans to launch machine learning-powered data infrastructure that will allow brands to make business decisions by predicting future customer metrics. Chord also plans to add about five to seven people to its 33-person team this year.
