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Shopify

82 major milestones

Canadian multinational e-commerce platform providing online storefronts, point-of-sale systems, payments, fulfillment and an app ecosystem for merchants.

Latest Valuation
$35,000,000,000
6 Funding Rounds

Company Timeline

Years -5--1

Snowdevil online snowboard store launched (pre-Shopify)

Tobias Lütke built and launched Snowdevil, an online snowboard store, using Ruby on Rails — the direct precursor and inspiration for Shopify.

Year -2 • 2004

Years 0-4

Liquid template language introduced

Shopify created Liquid, an open-source template language (written in Ruby) that became the backbone for themes and dynamic storefront content.

Year 0 • 2006

Shopify founded and platform launched

Tobias Lütke, Scott Lake and Daniel Weinand launched Shopify (spun out from Snowdevil) in June 2006 in Ottawa, Ontario.

Year 0 • 2006

Early angel investment from John Philips

Toronto-based angel investor John Philips invested in Shopify to help early growth.

Year 1 • 2007

Switched pricing model to subscriptions

Shopify moved from revenue-share pricing to a subscription-based pricing model with fixed monthly plans and small transaction fees.

Year 1 • 2007

Early revenue milestone: ~$8k MRR

By 2007 Shopify was generating roughly $8,000 per month in revenue as the product-market fit and pricing model evolved.

Year 1 • 2007

Monthly recurring revenue reached ~$60k

By 2008 Shopify reported around $60,000 in monthly recurring revenue, reflecting accelerating merchant adoption.

Year 2 • 2008

Shopify API and App Store launched

On June 2, 2009 Shopify launched its API and App Store, enabling third-party apps and creating a developer ecosystem.

Year 3 • 2009

Founders & early team established

Founding team included Tobias Lütke (CEO), Scott Lake and Daniel Weinand; early team expanded rapidly with engineers and designers from acquisitions and hires.

Year 4 • 2010

Build-A-Business competition launched

Shopify started the Build-A-Business competition to encourage entrepreneurs to build businesses on its platform; winners received cash and mentorship.

Year 4 • 2010

Annualized transaction value reported at $132M

Around the Series A timeframe Shopify reported an annualized transaction value of approximately $132 million across merchants.

Year 4 • 2010

Named Ottawa's Fastest Growing Company

Shopify was named Ottawa's Fastest Growing Company by the Ottawa Business Journal in 2010.

Year 4 • 2010

First iOS mobile app released

Shopify launched a free iOS app allowing merchants to view and manage stores from mobile devices.

Year 4 • 2010

Series A funding: $7M

Shopify raised $7 million in a Series A led by Bessemer Venture Partners, FirstMark Capital and Felicis Ventures; reported $20M pre-money valuation.

Year 4 • 2010Valuation: $20,000,000

Years 5-9

11,000 active stores; ~$125M yearly merchant sales

By 2011 Shopify was hosting over 11,000 stores generating roughly $125M in yearly gross merchandise volume.

Year 5 • 2011

Series B funding: $15M

Shopify raised $15 million in a Series B round to expand operations and product development.

Year 5 • 2011

Select Start Studios (S3) acquisition

Shopify acquired Select Start Studios Inc (S3), bringing in 20 mobile engineers and designers to expand mobile capabilities.

Year 6 • 2012

Growth milestone: ~18,000 stores; ~$270M revenue

By 2012 Shopify hosted ~18,000 stores and merchants were transacting ~$270 million in total revenue.

Year 6 • 2012

Shopify Payments and Shopify POS launched

Shopify launched Shopify Payments (in partnership with Stripe) and introduced a Point-of-Sale system to unify online and offline sales.

Year 7 • 2013

Jet Cooper acquisition

Shopify acquired Jet Cooper, a Toronto design studio (~25 people), to strengthen design and product capabilities.

Year 7 • 2013

Series C funding: $100M

Shopify closed a $100 million Series C to expand into offline commerce and scale globally. Investors included OMERS Ventures and Insight Venture Partners among others.

Year 7 • 2013

Technical scaling: introduced DB sharding

Shopify introduced sharding in 2014 to distribute load across multiple databases and scale platform throughput and reliability.

Year 8 • 2014

Shopify Plus launched for enterprise merchants

Shopify released Shopify Plus, a white-glove offering for high-volume and enterprise e-commerce customers.

Year 8 • 2014

Platform scale: ~120,000 retailers; $105M revenue

By 2014 Shopify hosted about 120,000 online retailers and reported ~$105 million in revenue; ranked in Deloitte Fast50/Fast500.

Year 8 • 2014

Deloitte Fast50 and Fast500 recognition

Shopify ranked #3 in Deloitte's Fast50 (Canada) and #7 in Deloitte's Fast500 (North America) reflecting rapid growth.

Year 8 • 2014

Listed in Deloitte Fast50/500 (recognition)

Shopify's growth earned it #3 in Deloitte's Fast50 (Canada) and #7 in Deloitte's Fast500 (North America) in 2014.

Year 8 • 2014

Initial public offering (IPO)

Shopify went public on May 21, 2015 (NYSE & TSX), priced at $17 per share and surged to about $28 on first trading day; raised over $131M in the IPO.

Year 9 • 2015

Amazon Webstore closure: Shopify recommended migration

Amazon announced closure of Amazon Webstore and recommended Shopify as migration provider, causing Shopify stock to jump ~20%.

Year 9 • 2015

Years 10-14

Shopify Pay merchant features expanded to Shop Pay and social integrations later

Shopify Pay (later Shop Pay) evolved into a cross-platform accelerated checkout accepted across Facebook and Instagram and later integrated with other channels.

Year 10 • 2016

Shopify Capital launched (merchant financing)

Shopify launched Shopify Capital, offering cash advances/loans to merchants; ultimately grew into a multibillion-dollar financing product.

Year 10 • 2016

Acquisition: Boltmade

Shopify acquired product design firm Boltmade to boost Shopify Plus and product design capabilities.

Year 10 • 2016

Paystack partnership (Nigeria)

Shopify partnered with Paystack to enable Nigerian merchants to accept cross-border payments worldwide.

Year 10 • 2016

Frenzy flash-sales mobile app launched

Shopify launched Frenzy, an experimental app designed to improve flash sales experiences for merchants.

Year 10 • 2016

Acquisition: Tiny Hearts

Shopify acquired Toronto mobile product development studio Tiny Hearts and converted its building into an R&D office.

Year 10 • 2016

Amazon sales channel integration announced

Shopify announced integration allowing merchants to manage Amazon listings and sales from Shopify stores.

Year 11 • 2017

Shopify Pay launched (one-click checkout)

Shopify launched Shopify Pay to enable accelerated one-click checkout for participating merchants using Shopify Payments.

Year 11 • 2017

Retail hardware: Chip & Swipe reader and POS hardware

Shopify introduced a Bluetooth-enabled Chip & Swipe reader and further retail hardware (Dock, Retail Stand) for brick-and-mortar sellers.

Year 11 • 2017

Arrive package-tracking app launched

Shopify released Arrive, a mobile app to help customers track packages from Shopify merchants and other retailers.

Year 11 • 2017

Announced up to $500M investment in Toronto office

Shopify announced plans to invest up to $500 million in new Toronto office space (King West / The Well), expanding HQ footprint.

Year 12 • 2018

Ontario online cannabis retail used Shopify software

When cannabis became legal in Ontario, the provincial online cannabis sales platform used Shopify's software; later used for in-person cannabis sales as well.

Year 12 • 2018

Opened first physical flagship in Los Angeles

Shopify opened a flagship space in Los Angeles offering classes, coworking, 'genius bar' services and workshops for merchants.

Year 12 • 2018

Hardware and retail POS expansion

Across 2017–2019 Shopify expanded its in-person commerce hardware lineup and retail POS features (readers, docks, stands) to target brick-and-mortar merchants.

Year 13 • 2019

Shopify Studios launched

Shopify launched Shopify Studios, a content and production house focused on television and film content for entrepreneurs.

Year 13 • 2019

Mailchimp integration ended

Shopify and Mailchimp ended an integration agreement amid disputes around customer privacy and data handling.

Year 13 • 2019

Snapchat advertising integration

Shopify added integration with Snapchat to enable merchants to buy and manage Snapchat Story ads directly from Shopify.

Year 13 • 2019

Acquisition: Handshake (B2B wholesale)

Shopify acquired Handshake, a wholesale B2B e-commerce platform, integrating it into Shopify Plus.

Year 13 • 2019

Announced Shopify Fulfillment Network

Shopify announced plans for a Fulfillment Network to provide merchant fulfillment services competing with providers like Amazon FBA.

Year 13 • 2019

Shopify Chat launched (native chat function)

Shopify launched a native chat function (Shopify Chat) to allow real-time conversations between merchants and store visitors.

Year 13 • 2019

Acquisition announced: 6 River Systems (warehouse robotics)

Shopify announced acquisition of 6 River Systems (warehouse robotics) in a cash-and-stock deal worth approximately $450 million (finalized in October 2019).

Year 13 • 2019

Data breach affecting merchant customer data

In September 2020 Shopify confirmed a breach where customer data for up to 200 merchants was accessed by rogue support staff.

Year 14 • 2020

Shopify Pay rebranded to Shop Pay (2020)

Shopify rebranded Shopify Pay as Shop Pay to unify checkout and consumer-facing experiences.

Year 14 • 2020

Joined Diem (Libra) Association

Shopify announced plans to join the Diem (formerly Libra) Association for work on digital payments and blockchain initiatives.

Year 14 • 2020

Announced shift to fully remote work (COVID-19)

As the COVID-19 pandemic spread, Shopify announced on March 11, 2020 that most global employees would shift to remote work; later announced many roles would be permanently remote.

Year 14 • 2020

Arrive app rebranded as Shop

Shopify combined Arrive and other consumer-facing features under the new 'Shop' mobile brand.

Year 14 • 2020

Partnership with Alipay for cross-border payments

Shopify partnered with Alipay to help merchants accept cross-border payments for Chinese consumers.

Year 14 • 2020

Years 15-19

Hydrogen (headless storefront stack) introduced

Shopify released Hydrogen (open-source headless JS stack) in 2021 for building fast client-facing storefronts; Oxygen later provided hosting/CDN.

Year 15 • 2021

Affirm IPO windfall (stake value ~$2B)

After Affirm's Jan 13, 2021 IPO, Shopify's 8% stake in Affirm was valued at about $2 billion.

Year 15 • 2021

Shopify Rebellion esports org formed

Shopify formed an esports organization, Shopify Rebellion, including a professional StarCraft II team.

Year 15 • 2021

Major executive departures

Around early-to-mid 2021, approximately half of Shopify's C-level executives decided to leave the company.

Year 15 • 2021

Investment in Swyft (logistics/delivery startup)

Shopify participated in Swyft's Series A (reported total ~$17.5M), marking a first entry into last-mile delivery investments.

Year 15 • 2021

Acquisition: Primer (AR app)

Shopify acquired Primer, an augmented reality app enabling users to preview home improvement items digitally in AR.

Year 15 • 2021

App Store commission change: 0% on first $1M

Shopify removed the 20% revenue share for app developers who earn less than US$1M per year (0% on first $1M).

Year 15 • 2021

Policy & content controversies accelerate scrutiny

From 2017 onwards and notably in 2022–2024 Shopify faced repeated criticism for platform content moderation decisions (e.g., hosting extremist or controversial stores).

Year 16 • 2022

Stock valuation drop and reported market cap

In 2022 Shopify's stock lost significant value (reported ~80% YTD at one point); sources listed an approximate company worth of ~$35B in Q4 2022.

Year 16 • 2022Valuation: $35,000,000,000

Partnership with JD.com for China expansion

Shopify partnered with JD.com to allow U.S. merchants to list on JD Worldwide and expand into China.

Year 16 • 2022

Linkpop launched (link-in-bio e-commerce tool)

Shopify introduced Linkpop, a branded social marketplace and link-in-bio product to help merchants sell via social channels.

Year 16 • 2022

Carbon removal advanced market commitment ($925M consortium)

Shopify joined Alphabet, Meta, Stripe and McKinsey in a $925M advanced market commitment to accelerate carbon dioxide removal technologies.

Year 16 • 2022

Twitter partnership and sales channel integration

Twitter announced a Shopify sales channel app enabling Shopify merchants in the U.S. to sell via Twitter Shopping.

Year 16 • 2022

Shopify & PayPal partnership for France

Shopify partnered with PayPal to offer Shopify Payments to merchants in France.

Year 16 • 2022

Layoffs: ~10% of workforce

Shopify announced layoffs of roughly 10% of its workforce, citing over-hiring during the pandemic e-commerce boom.

Year 16 • 2022

Strategic investment: $100M in Klaviyo

Shopify made a $100M strategic investment in Klaviyo and named it the recommended email solution for Shopify Plus merchants.

Year 16 • 2022

Major restructuring: ~20% layoffs and exit of Shopify Logistics

In May 2023 Shopify laid off ~20% of staff, wound down its logistics efforts and sold logistics assets including Deliverr and 6 River Systems; formed logistics partnership with Flexport and received a stake.

Year 17 • 2023

Sold logistics assets (Deliverr, 6 River Systems) and made Flexport partner

Shopify sold Deliverr and 6 River Systems to Flexport and Ocado respectively; as part of the Flexport deal Shopify received a ~13% stake and named Flexport preferred logistics partner.

Year 17 • 2023

Shopify Rebellion purchased TSM LCS spot

Shopify Rebellion purchased Team SoloMid's spot in the LCS (North American League of Legends Championship) in September 2023.

Year 17 • 2023

Shop Pay scale: 150M users reported

Shopify reported that Shop Pay had over 150 million users worldwide (reported in 2024/2025 filings and statements).

Year 18 • 2024

2024 financial & scale metrics (Form 10-K)

For FY2024 Shopify reported revenue of $8.88B, processed $292.3B in transactions during 2024, over 5 million customers, and ~8,100 employees.

Year 18 • 2024

Acquisition: Checkout Blocks and Threads (June 2024)

In June 2024 Shopify acquired Checkout Blocks (no-code checkout extensibility) and Threads (business communications startup); financial details undisclosed for Threads.

Year 18 • 2024

Controversies: hosting extremist or hateful merchandise highlighted

Shopify faced criticism and media scrutiny in 2024 for hosting stores selling antisemitic or otherwise hateful merchandise and changes to its content policies.

Year 18 • 2024

App Store scale: over 10,000 apps

By 2024 the Shopify App Store had over 10,000 apps available to merchants, powering a broad third-party ecosystem.

Year 18 • 2024

React Native migration announced (five-year migration complete)

Shopify announced in 2025 that over the prior five years it migrated its apps to React Native to share code across client platforms.

Year 19 • 2025

Announced U.S. listing transfer: NYSE to Nasdaq

Shopify announced it would transfer its U.S. listing from the New York Stock Exchange to the Nasdaq Global Select Market; began Nasdaq trading on March 31, 2025.

Year 19 • 2025

Included in the Nasdaq-100 index

Shopify became a component of the Nasdaq-100 index on May 19, 2025.

Year 19 • 2025