Tetra Pak heir leads £1m funding round into WhatsApp e-commerce start-up

Magnus Rausing, an heir to the multi-billion pound Tetra Pak fortune, has led a £1m investment into a start-up which lets brands sell products to customers through WhatsApp messages.

Mr Rausing led the investment round into Blueprint, a London business which lets beauty and health brands take e-commerce orders through SMS, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp messages.

Other investors in the funding round include venture capital business Hambro Perks and Founders Factory, the start-up scheme set up by lastminute.com founder Brent Hoberman.

Harvey Hodd, Blueprint’s chief executive, said the company filters out overly promotional messages to prevent customers receiving a torrent of prompts to buy items.

Mr Hodd, a former professional football player who founded the business last year, said he hopes his company will help consumers avoid “app fatigue” which discourages customers from joining new services to buy products.

The start-up is planning to launch a private test of its service for more than 200 businesses in May, followed by a full launch in the second half of the year.

All-in-one “super” messaging apps such as WeChat which can be used to make purchases, order taxis and stay in touch with friends have exploded in popularity across Asia.

Mr Hodd says Blueprint has seen a rise in interest from brands because of the closure of physical shops during the coronavirus lockdown.

“Brands are looking at retaining their best customers more than ever,” he said, “speaking one on one with your customers is probably the best retention strategy you can ever hope for. The current disruption has accelerated our development and interest from customers. It's almost like a launchpad for us.”