B8ta


b8ta is a retail-as-a-service company with a chain of 22 standaloneretail stores which serve as presentation centers for consumer electronics and home goods. The company was founded in 2015 by Vibhu Norby, William Mintun, Phillip Raub, and Nicholas Mann. Its first location opened in Palo Alto during December 2015. Companies can pay to rent out space for their product to be displayed inside the locations, along with a tablet that each brand customizes with software. All of the products in stores are on display out-of-the-box and can be touched and demoed. The company also sells the products directly to consumers. Store employees, which the company calls "b8ta testers", assist customers with demos and product information which is taught to them by companies with products on display. In November 2019, b8ta opened a fashion store named Forum in West Hollywood with the same business model.

Ark

Ark provides businesses with a platform to open physical showrooms for their products. The most prevalent is a 70 location store within a store concept with Lowe's. These areas operate under the SmartSpot banner and allow customers to interact with smart home products. Macy's Herald Square is also home to a pop-up space equipped with Ark's technology. In 2019, Tru Kids, the trademark holder of Toys "R" Us in the United States began using the Ark platform for its physical locations.

Funding

In September 2016, b8ta raised a $7 million Series A round of funding. In June 2018, b8ta closed a $19 million Series B round led by Macy's, with participation from Sound Ventures, Palm Drive Capital, Capitaland, Graphene Ventures, Khosla Ventures and Plug and Play Ventures. The round brought b8ta's total funding to $39 million.
Macy's acquired a minority share in b8ta during June 2018.

Design

The common area environment design strategy was built and executed by the design firm Mint. It started with two over-sized archways that invited consumers in, as well as double sided merchandise cabinets where customers can experience the products on the inside as well as the perimeter of the store.