Crossing Minds picks up investment from Shopify

Crossing Minds makes it possible to present individualized recommendations before a shopper without any prior web history or personal data. And Shopify is buying in.

Why it matters: Shopify's investment shows that the so-called recommendations space is heating up as brands and marketplaces alike seek to upsell customers.

• The effort comes while these brands and marketplaces try to comply with stricter consumer privacy laws and find ways to work around the phasing out of third-party cookies that typically track users across the web.

Details: Crossing Minds said it has received a strategic investment from Shopify, the Canadian e-commerce platform. It didn’t disclose the exact amount, but said this deal follows a $10 million Series A round that the company announced in October.

What’s next: Crossing Minds will make its platform available to Shopify’s merchants. Funding will go toward helping it integrate with the tools used by Shopify’s global merchant base.

• Mid-market companies, especially marketplaces, fit in the sweet spot of the type of clients Crossing Minds wants to target, co-founder and CEO Alexandre Robicquet tells Axios.

How it works: The recommendation startup is unique in that it doesn't require personal user data, Robicquet said.

• Crossing Minds tries to tailor shopping recommendations to each individual by analyzing on-site actions through machine learning and artificial intelligence.
• “This is why people come to us. Because in 1, 2, 3 clicks, without looking at all of who you are, I can personalize the experience,” Robicquet said.