SHOWFIELDS is a technology company.
SHOWFIELDS has raised $11.0M across 2 funding rounds.
Key people at SHOWFIELDS.
SHOWFIELDS has raised $11.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
Showfields was a revolutionary brick-and-mortar retail platform that showcased digitally native, direct-to-consumer brands through immersive, experiential spaces blending retail, art, events, and community.[1][2][3] It served the retail industry by curating mission-driven products from wellness, home, fashion, and food sectors, hosting workshops, performances, and pop-ups in multi-story flagships like its 14,000 sq ft New York City location on 11 Bond Street.[1][2][3] The company solved the challenge of bringing online-first brands to physical life, creating discovery-driven destinations that processed thousands of transactions via integrated tech backends syncing with e-commerce platforms like Shopify.[3] Founded in 2017-2018, it raised $9.68M, expanded to Miami and Los Angeles, but filed for bankruptcy in October 2023 amid financial pressures.[1][2]
Showfields emerged from the vision of entrepreneurs Tal Zvi Nathanel and Amir Zwickel, who launched it in 2017 (Brooklyn base) or 2018 (NYC flagship opening) to redefine retail as an "immersive journey of discovery."[1][2][3] The idea stemmed from spotting a gap: digitally native brands needed physical spaces to engage consumers beyond screens, evolving traditional shopping into a "living, breathing intersection of retail, art, theater, and culture."[3][4] Early traction came fast with a sophisticated Ruby on Rails backend using GraphQL, Kubernetes, microservices, Stripe, and Shopify APIs, enabling over 40 brands in its debut NoHo flagship and real-time analytics for customer insights.[3] This tech foundation fueled rapid growth to multiple U.S. locations, marking pivotal expansion moments before challenges hit.[1][3]
Showfields stood out in retail tech through these key strengths:
Showfields rode the DTC-to-Omnichannel Retail Trend, capitalizing on the 2010s boom of online brands seeking physical presence to build loyalty amid e-commerce saturation.[1][3] Timing was ideal post-2017, as consumers craved experiential retail amid "retail apocalypse" store closures, with market forces like urban millennials favoring immersive discovery over sterile shopping.[2][3] It influenced the ecosystem by pioneering "next-generation department marketplaces," enabling DTC brands' brick-and-mortar debuts via tech-enabled pop-ups and analytics—part of the in-store retail tech wave with 1,775+ similar innovators.[1][3] This model pressured traditional retail to hybridize while amplifying emerging creators in high-growth sectors like wellness and fashion.[1][2]
Post-2023 bankruptcy, Showfields' story underscores retail's high-stakes evolution: innovative experiential models can scale fast but falter on funding and operations in volatile markets.[1] What's next remains unclear—no revival signals as of late 2025—but its blueprint endures, inspiring hybrid retail tech for DTC brands amid rising AR/VR integrations and AI personalization. Trends like sustainable curation and data-optimized pop-ups will shape successors, potentially evolving its influence into ghost kitchens or metaverse-physical hybrids, tying back to its core mission of making retail a cultural adventure.[1][3]
Key people at SHOWFIELDS.
SHOWFIELDS has raised $11.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
SHOWFIELDS's investors include Founders Future, Future Shape, Oskar Hartmann, Romain Afflelou, Rainfall Ventures, Saturn Partners.
SHOWFIELDS has raised $11.0M across 2 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $2.0M Seed in July 2019.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 1, 2019 | $2.0M Seed | Founders Future, Future Shape, Oskar Hartmann, Romain Afflelou | |
| Feb 1, 2019 | $9.0M Seed | Rainfall Ventures, Saturn Partners |
