Shopify, a venerable name in digital commerce, announced Wednesday that it has acquired mobile app development firm Select Start Studios (S3).
According to Shopify, the reason for the acquisition is to help the company carry out an aggressive mobile growth strategy.
The acquisition marks Shopify’s first major investment since raising $15 million in Series B funding last October.
Having helped to build some of today’s biggest online stores, Shopify can presently boast of 20,000 active online stores in 80 different countries.
“After seeing a massive increase in mobile transactions at Shopify, we believe there is great demand and opportunity for mcommerce,” said Tobias Lutke, founder and CEO of Shopify. “The S3 acquisition brings in top talent that will rapidly deliver on our mobile strategy, and produce several new mobile product offerings this year.”
Shopify says Tariq Zaid, co-founder and CEO of S3, will join Shopify with his team of over 20 mobile engineers and designers.
“We’re thrilled to be joining Shopify to execute on the company’s mobile initiative,” Zaid said. “Their focus on mobile, deep understanding of technology, and overall culture make this a natural fit. We’re already cooking up some really exciting innovations that show just how game changing mcommerce will be.”
