Emerge Commerce
EMERGE Commerce (formerly Transformational Capital) is a Canada-based digital deals and savings network with 2M members founded by Ghassan Halazon which operates four e-commerce sites.[1] The sites operate as a one stop-shop for last minute deals on staycations, events, experiences, and family activities. The company is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.
Formerly | Transformation Capital |
---|---|
Private | |
Industry | E-commerce |
Founded | 2015 |
Founders | Ghassan Halazon, Fazal Khaishgi, Jonson Sun, Drew Green, Kia Besharat |
Headquarters | Toronto, Ontario |
Areas served | Canada, United States |
Brands | UnderPar, WagJag, Buytopia.ca, Shop.ca |
Number of employees | 37 |
Website | emerge-commerce |
Brands
UnderPar
In November 2019, EMERGE Commerce Inc. acquired UnderPar for $12 million, which was its biggest acquisition to date. It is based in Toronto with an office in San Diego.[2]
WagJag
WagJag (Wagjag.com) is a deal-of-the-day site which operates in nine Canadian provinces and the largest local deals player in Ontario.[3] Prior to being acquired by Emerge Commerce in November 2017, WagJag was owned by Metroland Media Group, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation, the parent Company of the Toronto Star.[4]
Buytopia.ca
Buytopia is a deal-of-the-day site founded by Michele Romanow.[5] Buytopia's team previously sold their grocery cashback app to Groupon in 2014.
Shop.ca
Shop.ca was initially a Canadian e-commerce site launched in June 2011. The company had raised CA$72M in venture capital funding; however, was spending more to acquire a customer that the average customer spent.[6] As a result, the company entered legal restructuring in July 2016 due to a lack of funds to continue operating. EMERGE acquired Shop.ca's assets via legal restructuring and re-launched Shop.ca as a Content & Coupons marketing platform [7]
References
- Serebrin, Jacob (13 December 2016). "Transformational Capital Sees Opportunity to Turn Around Distressed Ecommerce Brands". Techvibes. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
- McClelland, Colin (November 22, 2019). "Online shopping promotion company Emerge buys UnderPar golf promotor | Financial Post". Financial Post. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
- Banerjee, Preet (12 October 2010). "The best of the deal-a-day sites". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
- Hasham, Alyshah (23 February 2012). "Groupon and other group buying sites such as WagJag and LivingSocial benefit from consumer "herd mentality": study". Toronto Star. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
- Toneguzzi, Mario (25 March 2015). "Minhas, Romanow to join CBC's Dragons Den". Calgary Herald. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
- Braga, Matthew (5 January 2017). "The inside story of Shop.ca's failed e-commerce revolution". Canadian Business. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
- Soltys, Douglas (14 July 2016). "Shop.ca's Assets to be sold to Transformational Capital, Amount not enough to Fully Repay Creditors". BetaKit. Retrieved 24 December 2017.