Helping brands drive revenue through social commerce, London-based Duel picks up $3 million

London-based brand advocacy platform Duel has raised $3 million in funding to help consumer brands drive revenue through social commerce without having to pump huge sums of money into digital advertising and relying on their own communities of people to grow. The round was led by SuperSeed. The new cash will allow Duel to better serve its expanding global client base.

The UK-based startup had earlier secured £1.8 million in funding in 2020.

The platform enables brands to coordinate, track and measure advocates at scale, across multiple communities, including customer ambassadors, creators, influencers, athletes, and store employees,

The platform is used by the likes of ASOS, Unilever, Charlotte Tilbury, Rab, Monica Vinader, Mint Velvet, Beauty Pie, NEOM, Bleach London and Elemis.

Paul Archer, co-founder and CEO of Duel said: “We’re in the depths of a people-powered revolution when it comes to growing consumer brands, as now content created by real people influences so many of our purchase decisions, not ads generated by businesses. If brands want to capitalise on the fact that commerce is rapidly moving to social, they need to tap into their own communities of people, identifying their most social, influential, and highly passionate brand fans, and then grow through them.”

Mads Jensen, managing partner at SuperSeed, added: “For too long, consumer brands have been forced to rely on expensive ads to drive revenue. Duel’s technology is a game changer, as it helps brands reduce their reliance on ineffective advertising strategies and instead use their own communities to grow.