The number of start-ups in retail technology is growing quickly and Retail Week is highlighting some of the best. This week, app platform Poq Studio is in the spotlight.

Poq Studio is a commerce platform for native retail apps.

Poq Studio is a commerce platform for native retail apps. Co-founder Michael Langguth and investor James Hart tell us more.

Poq Studio

Founded: September 2011

Investment: Currently raising £500k

Investors: Former Asos director James Hart and Venrex, who are also investors in Astley Clarke, Orlebar Brown, and Not On The High Street.

Founders: Michael Langguth, Oyvind Henriksen, Jun Seki, Mike Hann

Retail partners: House of Fraser, Radley, Blue Inc, Missguided, Demandware, Iconeme

What it does:

Founder Michael Langguth says: “Poq Studio is a commerce platform for native retail apps. The software-as-a-service platform enables over 30 retailers, including House of Fraser, Steven Alan, Radley and Blue Inc, to deliver best-in-class mobile apps across Android and iOS – updated quarterly and integrated with any major e-commerce platform. We offer retailers a reliable and scalable way to deploy and maintain native apps.

“Poq Studio is raising a £500k investment round to satisfy demand from large retailers and just opened a small part of that, £120k, to individuals, especially in retail. The round is now live on Seedrs: https://www.seedrs.com/startups/poq.”

Why is it relevant to retailers?

James Hart says: “The possibilities for native apps to improve the customer experience both on and offline are more exciting than ever, but they have proven cost prohibitive and too hard for most retailers to realise. Until now. The Poq platform removes both of these barriers and the team behind it is at the forefront of the evolution of app commerce.”

What problem for retailers does the technology solve? (100 words max):

Michael Langguth says: “We believe in empowering retailers to deliver world class shopping experiences to mobile consumers, removing the technical barriers of traditional app development and reliance on the responsiveness of agencies. Using the Poq Studio platform, retailers have full creative control of their apps, whilst inventory and orders are seamlessly integrated with any ecommerce platform.

“Our software-as-a-service platform has been live since March 2012 and is being continuously developed, with new code rolled out every week and major releases delivered every quarter.”

More information:

PoqStudio.com