Society Brands, an ecommerce aggregator built for and by founders, today announced the appointment of Ross Salupo as Chief Technology Officer, and the release of a new proprietary platform called EVO, as it scales its technology capabilities to deliver competitive advantages for its portfolio of brands. In addition, Society announced a partnership with Sidestreet, a Northeast Ohio-based data science firm, which has been an integral part in building out EVO and will continue to support its technology vision.
At a time when the aggregator community faces uncertainty and downsizing, Society Brands is continuing its impressive company growth trajectory with brand acquisitions, further developing its internal operations, and investing in next-generation technology to generate growth and efficiencies for its acquired brands.
“We are thrilled to have Ross Salupo join Society Brands and lead our technology team as we continue to rapidly scale and invest in next-generation technology,” said Justin Sirpilla, President of Society Brands. “Delivering innovative technology solutions that create efficient brand growth is core to our company and reflects our commitment to providing acquired brands with access to world-class infrastructure. Salupo brings with him vast experience in big data, data science, machine learning, systems integrations, and technology products to Society Brands and his expertise will be an integral part of expanding our robust brand growth platform.”
As CTO, Ross Salupo will define and execute Society Brands’ technology strategy to propel its brands to new heights. Salupo has more than 15 years of experience in high scale data systems, including data products focused on consumer brands and the Amazon marketplace. Prior to joining Society Brands, Salupo served as CTO for a PE-backed open data corporation that specializes in high performance data systems for commercial clients, hedge funds, and the U.S. Department of Defense. During his time with the company, he played a key role in corporate strategy and successfully led efforts to deliver large scale technology projects on-time and on-budget.
“Society Brands sits at the rare confluence of ability and opportunity, and I’m thrilled to join the team,” said Salupo. “Together we’ll redefine the playbook for brand-driven online retailing, combining expert-driven brand stewardship with internet-scale data science.”
As Society Brands continues to stay aggressive in acquiring and growing brands, the company has released a first-of-its-kind proprietary platform called EVO, short for evolution. With EVO, Society Brands can integrate its acquired brands into an advanced system of unified customer service, fulfillment, logistics, demand planning, marketing, and financial analysis, bringing operational excellence and high growth to its portfolio. The EVO platform also centralizes data storage, analytics, and reporting across more than a dozen systems to give Society Brands a real-time view of each of its brands’ performance across a variety of metrics.
Society Brands is also partnering with Sidestreet, a Northeast Ohio-based data science firm, to create bespoke data infrastructure products powering data-driven decision making. Sidestreet’s specialization in data engineering and analytics will support Society Brands’ technology vision and help fuel the company’s rapid brand acquisition growth for years to come.
“Our goal at Society is not simply to acquire a strong brand, but to grow the business,” continued Sirpilla. “Like all good societies, our technology and operating infrastructure is continuously evolving and getting better, which inspired the name of our proprietary platform EVO. Our unique business model of providing brand founders meaningful liquidity while at the same time affording them an opportunity to stay on board to build their brand, means everyone is focused on growth. With the addition of Salupo as CTO, our new EVO platform, and partnership with Sidestreet, we are arming ourselves with the tools we need to improve our people, processes, and technology across all fronts.”
Society Brands, launched in October 2020, announced an institutional capital raise of $205M led by i80 Group in March of this year. A combination of debt and equity, the raise positioned the company as one of the best-funded ecommerce aggregators in the world. Society Brands has used this funding to not only start acquiring brands, but to also build out its internal team with strategic hires across product development, operations, finance, and technology.
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