From promising local startup to global e-commerce competitor
Pixel Union is a leading Shopify design, development, and service partner, specializing in beautiful and easy-to-use themes and apps. TCap bought a controlling interest in Pixel Union in 2014, leaving the founder with an equity stake in the company and the board seat he desired.
This allowed him to step back from active management and take some money off the table, while enabling TCap to leverage his knowledge of the business – a win/win situation. TCap’s goal is to build long-term value that benefits all stakeholders. To that end, we engaged a CEO who shared our ambition and vision for the company. Strategically, we repositioned the company to emphasize ecommerce software, and eventually shut down Tumblr and Wordpress theme businesses. A sharper focus on ecommerce strengthened relationships with both Shopify and BigCommerce and jump-started second-stage growth in sales, profits, and number of employees.
In addition to driving organic growth through operational excellence, TCap used its financial resources to make a series of five acquisitions that increased sales and earnings per share. In 2019, TCap sold Pixel to a consortium led by Tiny Capital, which included both the original founder and the CEO. During its five years of ownership, TCap increased both revenue and adjusted EBITDA for Pixel by a factor of 10. We pride ourselves on this ability to scale a smaller business into a strong, global competitor.