Shopify, a well known cloud-based commerce platform for the SMB set, announced it has acquired product design and development consultancy Boltmade.
What does a commerce system like Shopify need with a design and development consultancy like Boltmade? Likely to build out its Shopify Plus product offering, which caters to high-growth, high-volume merchants.
"We first worked with the Boltmade team in early 2016 and quickly realized the team's huge potential and depth of talent," said Loren Padelford, VP of Shopify Plus. "Shopify is committed to investing in talent. The acquisition of Boltmade will bring a strong group of designers and engineers to Shopify Plus. We're thrilled to have them join our team to help shape the future of commerce for larger merchants."
Founded in 2013, Boltmade is a 21-person product-focused digital consulting firm that designs and builds software products for early stage startups to Fortune 500 companies. The Boltmade team will join the Shopify Plus office in Waterloo.
"Shopify has had a big impact on commerce by helping businesses of all sizes achieve success. Earlier this year, we jumped at the chance to work on a project with them," said Jim Murphy, Founder and President of Boltmade. "We're excited to be joining Shopify Plus to help some of the most recognizable, fastest-growing brands in the world sell billions of dollars of product."
As a 'Net professional, do you expect more design and development agencies to be acquired by software companies such as Shopify?
What advantage do you see of acquisitions of this nature?