The Whistleblower, The Metaverse And LiSA

Highlights From The Web Summit

What do all the above have in common…? The main stage at Web Summit! Forty thousand visitors came to Lisbon, Portugal, to discuss the newest trends in tech. Amongst the 1.300 startups – LiSA – Live & Social Commerce Assistant, a company founded in 2018 to help the world’s leading e-Retailers and marketplaces transform into organically growing social commerce platforms.

‍

It was a blast, only a couple of days before the Web Summit took place from November 1st– 4th 2021, Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, announced the re-branding of his company, now known as Meta Platform Inc.. What a co-incidence that the re-branding happens during one of the biggest scandals in our century, when Frances Haugen, the Whistleblower at Whistleblower Aid, set an important milestone to put an end to “rob people of yet more personal information“. It is even more impressive and a bold statement by Web Summit’s Founder & CEO Paddy Cosgrave, to officially start off the biggest conference for tech visionaries by Facebook’s whistleblower Frances Haugen.

But, even if Zuckerberg timed his re-branding quite well, the metaverse trend took off far before. The metaverse is essentially described as a world of endless, interconnected virtual communities where people can meet, work and play, using virtual reality headsets, augmented reality glasses, smartphone apps or other devices. It incorporates aspects of online life such as shopping and social media, according to Victoria Petrock, an analyst who follows emerging technologies.‍

Or how LiSA’s Co-Founder and CEO Sophie Frères already anticipated in 2018: “As consumers are increasingly shifting their needs for social interaction, authentic entertainment and curated product experience online an entirely new hybrid experience is emerging.”

‍

Social Commerce, as part of the metaverse mega trend, is taking off. But how can retailers and brands enhance their independence from social media giants like Facebook and Instagram, yet offer a fun and joyful live shopping experience? Both LiSA founders, Sophie Frères (CEO) and Philippe Frères (CPO) shared a vision of a future where e-Retailers and marketplaces transform themselves into an interactive and inspiring “place to be” for their community, within their own eCommerce environment.

The LiSA team lives and breathes retail. “It is our passion to help the industry realize it’s maximum potential and be a true source of delight”, says Philippe Frères. Therefore, it is a sincerest gratitude for making it into the Web Summit finals and being recognized as one of the Top 3 companies out of more than thousand startups at the world’s biggest conference. Our “little LiSA” is growing up quite fast!

‍