Web3 is changing the foundations of the internet as we know it today. It is changing the way we interact, transact and is laying the foundations for ownership in the internet. We believe that web3 will transform the e-commerce landscape as we know it today. Crypto wallets hold a huge amount of data and if this data is used in the right way, it can create whole new experiences for customers that are not currently possible.
Brands, merchants and marketplaces all over the world want to find ways to create targeted and tailored experiences for their customers. There are endless opportunities for personalisation, for example: showing customers products tailored to their interest or previous purchasing habits, showing them discounts from holding a certain token or giving them access to exclusive products as they hold a particular NFT. Oasiis Insights was launched to meet this need.
Tell me about the business - what it is, what it aims to achieve, who you work with, how you reach customers and so on?
Oasiis Insights is a SAAS business which creates personalised experiences for web3 customers. Our product takes a data driven approach to automating personalisation, creating experiences for customers based on their wallet data which boosts growth through increased engagement, sales and AoV. We do this through a no-code, AI driven campaigns which can be tailored by our customers to suit their audiences. The power of our product also comes from our analytics and CRM capabilities, allowing businesses to combine web3 and web2 data to further enhance the understanding of their customer base and produce more targeted campaigns.
We aim to become the go-to partner for marketers wanting to optimise and enhance how they create personalised experiences for their customers. We work with brands, merchants and marketplaces who are either established or beginning to experiment with web3 technology. We reach our customers through our network, as well as through the Shopify ecosystem where we’re integrating our app.
How has the business evolved since its launch? When was this?
We launched the business just over 6 months ago now and it started with myself and my co-founder Vincent beginning to think deeply about the identity space in web3 and the insights that can be gained from a wallet.
Having experience in ecommerce, retail and consumer products, we understood that as more people use wallets and web3 adoption increases, there will be an increase in the data available on users. If brands and merchants are then able to leverage this data in the right way, they can unlock whole new ways to engage their audiences.
We entered the accelerator program by Blockchain Founders Group with this idea. Since then, the product has come on a long-way; having initially focused on running successful campaigns around creating personalised experiences, we enhancing this by leveraging AI to to improve the insight we can gain from analysis on wallet addresses. Further to this, bringing this data into a CRM system combining web3 and available web2 data allows companies to have a detailed understanding of their audience and create even more personalised experiences. Leveraging AI, combining web3 and web2 data and building a CRM are now core components of our product. Additionally, we prioritse privacy very highly and believe this should be more prominent in the web3 space. In the second half of this year, we’re building out the privacy component of the product to help customers protect their data.
6 months after joining the accelerator with our idea, we have successfully received pre-seed funding, grown to a team of 5 people and have our MVP launching imminently with a backlog of customers on our waitlist.
Tell us about the working culture at Oasiis Insights
At Oasiis Insights, we have a culture of collaboration, learning and experimentation. We have a strong team bond and believe that collaborating and bringing the power of our minds together is the best way for us to achieve success. Learning is a key component to our culture for us to stay ahead of the curb. It is crucial we all have a learning mindset and are constantly staying up to date with key trends and new technologies. We also actively encourage experimentation as we find it a core component to innovation. The more we can take risks and try new things, the more we learn about how to build a cutting edge product and find new tactics to continually grow our business.
In terms of the way we work, we like to keep things flexible and allow people to work as best suits them. Our team is located all over the world and we are decentralised by design as we think the most important thing is finding talented and determined people, wherever they are. The fact that we’re apart most of the time, actually makes it even more important to create a culture where people feel part of a team.
First and foremost, the thing that I try to instill is that everyone enjoys their work and does something that challenges them. If you aren’t happy and fulfilled then you aren’t in the right job and from an Oasiis Insights standpoint, we wouldn’t be able to find and keep top talent.
We are also results oriented rather than holding people to working in set locations and specific schedules. I believe this mindset allows people to work in ways that best suits them and will allow them to balance everything else going on in their life, which in turn, creates the best outcomes for the company.
How are you funded?
We were part of BFG’s 3 month long accelerator program which is focused on supporting founders to incubate their idea, build out the fundamentals and begin to grow an initial customer base and community.
After a series of three phrases, we got the opportunity to pitch to the board of investors and we were successful, raising our first pre-seed funding.
Raising in this way has given us access to the extensive network BFG has, including: investors, advisors and continued support after the program. It’s helped us to accelerate our growth and learn from others around us.
What has been your biggest challenge so far and how have you overcome this?
While we have received our pre-seed round, we have to be strategic with how we spend it. We therefore have focused on community building as a way to get first customers rather than having a large marketing budget to tap into. Moreover, our sales cycles can be longer as we’re a B2B rather than a B2C business.
We’ve overcome these challenges by being as proactive as possible in finding leads and really honing in on our target market. We also spend a lot of time thinking about how to make the product as clear as possible to customers so they really see the value in what we’re building and can clearly understand how they could use it in their business.
How does Oasiis Insights answer an unmet need?
Currently in the web3 space, there are plenty of tools out there that allow merchants to run various analytics on their user base. Additionally, we’re seeing an increasing number of token-gating applications that enable specific experiences to be unlocked if a user holds a certain token.
We’ve spoken to hundreds of merchants and have consistently heard about how their current pain points are that even with these analytics and insight tools, there are no solutions which give them the ability to easily turn that insight into action. Even if a merchant uses a token-gating app to action the insight, their campaigns are only specific to a single token or collection in a users wallet and doesn’t provide the ability to have rich personalisation and use the power of wallet data to its full potential.
At Oasiis Insights, we’re able to analyse wallet data, create insights and allow merchants to create personalisation for each customer, while automating the whole process. Our approach means that not only do merchants get richer insights, they’re now able to easily act on those insights and, in turn, increase their engagement, sales and AoV.
What’s in store for the future?
In terms of the broader ecommerce landscape, the way we shop and engage online is changing. As more people adopt web3, brands, merchants and marketplaces are discovering new ways to engage those audiences and do this through leveraging the power of data. We’ve started to see brands enter this space and merchants begin to test the technology, which will increase exponentially over the coming years.
From an Oasiis Insights standpoint, keep an eye out for our integration with Shopify which we’ll be announcing soon as our app will be available to all their merchants. If you’re not on Shopify, don’t worry, we work directly with our customers to create bespoke solutions and we also have integrations with other ecommerce platforms in the roadmap, including some native and non-native web3 platforms.
What one piece of advice would you give other founders or future founders?
Relentlessly prioritise. There are always a million things you could be doing and unless you focus on the priority things, you can end up spending a lot of time focusing on the wrong areas. I always try to think, what are the most important things I have to do and focus on getting those done before thinking about anything else.
I try and do this on a weekly and daily basis, constantly reprioritising as things come up. I also try and use a framework to make sure I don’t miss anything: people, customer & product. Customer and product I’m sure are clear but I put people above everything else. Your team will be the foundation of your success so I always focus on making sure they have everything they need to be successful in their role.
And finally, a more personal question! What’s your daily routine and the rules you’re living by at the moment?
I would love to tell you that I have a set daily routine but in honesty, I don’t. Being a founder tends to mean you have to be flexible and that changes my daily routine. However, I have a couple of things I stick to religiously and they help me physically and mentally, allowing me to do the best I can both inside and outside of work. I would say, I’m constantly learning and finding new things that are helping me with my day-to-day.
I’m an early morning person so I’m up at 6 as I find it a good time for me to focus as (usually) it’s pretty undisturbed. I always make sure that I exercise, every day. It helps me to stay healthy, both physically and mentally. It’s one of the main ways I can achieve a state of flow which has always been important to me as it helps me to take a step back, reflect on situations and generally be more creative. Also, I’ve recently picked up meditation as I’ve learnt it's another good way to achieve a state of flow. However, I’m still very much learning this one - I’ve been told by many, it takes practice.
I think it’s also very important to take time away from work. Whether it’s sport, reading, podcasts or cooking, taking time to do these things allows me to be more effective at my job over the long-run, enjoy my personal life and also continue with self-development.
In terms of core principles, there are many but the one most important I look to apply in my life is proactivity. I think starting with being proactive allows you to take control of your inner self and build great relationships with others.
Elliot Garreffa is the cofounder of Oasiis.
