{"id":727518,"date":"2026-05-15T03:35:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T00:35:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/thrive-capital-invests-100m-in-shopify-in-rare-public-market-bet-on-ai-commerce\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T03:35:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T00:35:14","slug":"thrive-capital-invests-100m-in-shopify-in-rare-public-market-bet-on-ai-commerce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/thrive-capital-invests-100m-in-shopify-in-rare-public-market-bet-on-ai-commerce\/","title":{"rendered":"Thrive Capital invests $100M in Shopify in rare public-market bet on AI commerce"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a23e807b6e96\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a23e807b6e96\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-4' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-4'><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-4' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/thrive-capital-invests-100m-in-shopify-in-rare-public-market-bet-on-ai-commerce\/#TLDR\" >TL;DR<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/thrive-capital-invests-100m-in-shopify-in-rare-public-market-bet-on-ai-commerce\/#The_crossover_play\" >The crossover play<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/thrive-capital-invests-100m-in-shopify-in-rare-public-market-bet-on-ai-commerce\/#Where_the_money_is_going\" >Where the money is going<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/thrive-capital-invests-100m-in-shopify-in-rare-public-market-bet-on-ai-commerce\/#The_Shopify_thesis\" >The Shopify thesis<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/thrive-capital-invests-100m-in-shopify-in-rare-public-market-bet-on-ai-commerce\/#The_bigger_picture\" >The bigger picture<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.thenextweb.com\/2026\/05\/thrive-capital-shopify-public-market-ai-commerce.avif\" \/><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-main-content\">\n<p><em><\/p>\n<div class=\"postContent-tldr\">\n<h4 class=\"postContent-offsetTitle\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"TLDR\"><\/span>TL;DR<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n<p>Joshua Kushner\u2019s Thrive Capital has invested roughly $100 million in Shopify, a rare public-market bet by the venture firm best known for backing OpenAI, SpaceX, and S<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">trip<\/a>e. Shopify stock is down <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>roximately 40% year to date after guidance suggested slowing revenue growth. Thrive framed the investment as a bet on AI-driven commerce. The firm, which raised a $10 billion fund in February, previously made $522 million from a contrarian Carvana trade and is part of a growing cohort of VC firms crossing into public equities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Joshua Kushner\u2019s Thrive Capital has taken a roughly $100 million stake in Shopify, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2026-05-14\/joshua-kushner-s-thrive-capital-invests-100-million-in-shopify\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">according to Bloomberg<\/a>, which cited people familiar with the matter. The investment is notable less for its size, $100 million is a rounding error in a firm that raised more than $10 billion for its latest fund, than for what it signals about where the most successful venture investors now see value. Thrive, best known for backing OpenAI, SpaceX, and Stripe when they were private, is buying a public company whose stock has fallen 40% this year.<\/p>\n<p>The firm told its stakeholders that the Shopify position is a bet on how artificial intelligence could drive gains in commerce. That framing connects the investment to a broader thesis Thrive has pursued across its portfolio: that AI will restructure the economics of every industry it touches, from\u00a0defence\u00a0to drug discovery to, now, the software that powers online retail.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_crossover_play\"><\/span>The crossover play<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Thrive is part of a small but growing cohort of venture firms that have started investing in public equities alongside their traditional startup portfolios. The firm is registered as an investment adviser, a designation that allows it to use the same funds for public and private positions. So are Accel and Andreessen Horowitz, two of the other firms that have made similar moves.<\/p>\n<div class=\"inarticle-wrapper channel-cta\">\n<div class=\"ica-text\">\n<p class=\"ica-text__title\">TNW City Coworking space &#8211; Where your best work happens<\/p>\n<p>A workspace designed for growth, collaboration, and endless networking opportunities in the heart of tech.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The precedent within Thrive\u2019s own portfolio is instructive. In March 2022, the firm bought a significant position in Carvana, the online car marketplace, at a time when the company was in financial distress. Thrive realised a $522 million profit on the trade, according to Bloomberg. The Carvana bet was not venture investing in any traditional sense. It was a contrarian public-market play, and it worked.<\/p>\n<p>The Shopify investment follows a similar logic. The company\u2019s first-quarter revenue grew 34.3% year on year to $3.17 billion, but its second-quarter guidance implied a deceleration to roughly 27.5% growth, and operating-profit forecasts came in below expectations. The stock slumped. Shares are now trading nearly 46% below their 52-week high. But Thrive appears to view the sell-off as an entry point rather than a warning.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Where_the_money_is_going\"><\/span>Where the money is going<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Other venture firms are making comparable public bets. Accel, which typically backs early-stage software companies, has invested in Nebius Group, the cloud-computing provider. Sequoia Capital bought additional shares in Figma this year, building on a position it first established when it backed the design tool as a startup in 2019. Thrive itself holds public positions in Figma, StubHub, and Oscar Health, the health-insurance company that Kushner co-founded.<\/p>\n<p>The pattern reflects a structural shift. Startups are taking longer to go public. The <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a>n time from founding to IPO has stretched well beyond a decade for many venture-backed companies. In the interim, the most valuable private companies, \u00a0OpenAI at $852 billion,\u00a0Anthropic approaching $900 billion, \u00a0are commanding valuations that leave less room for upside than a publicly traded company like Shopify, whose stock has been punished for delivering growth that merely slowed. In a market where AI valuations\u00a0invite comparisons to the dot-com era, the beaten-down public company may offer better risk-adjusted returns than the private unicorn.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Shopify_thesis\"><\/span>The Shopify thesis<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Shopify has spent the past year trying to move upmarket. The company built its business on small and medium-sized merchants, the independent shops and direct-to-consumer brands that needed an alternative to Amazon, but has increasingly courted larger retailers, betting that the order volume generated by bigger clients will accelerate growth beyond what its existing base can deliver.<\/p>\n<p>The AI angle is central to that strategy. Shopify launched what it calls \u201c<em>agentic commerce<\/em>\u201d earlier this year, a sales channel that allows merchants to surface products directly inside AI chat platforms such as ChatGPT. AI-driven orders on the platform grew 15 times year on year in 2025, according to the company. The bet is that as consumers begin interacting with AI assistants rather than search engines, the infrastructure that connects merchants to those assistants will become as important as the storefront itself.<\/p>\n<p>That is the thesis Thrive is underwriting. Not that Shopify\u2019s current growth rate justifies a higher multiple, but that AI will transform the economics of commerce in ways the market is not yet pricing in. It is, in essence, the same bet Thrive made on OpenAI before most investors understood what large language models could do, applied to a company that is already public, already profitable, and already down 40%.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_bigger_picture\"><\/span>The bigger picture<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Thrive\u2019s $10 billion fund, raised in February, is its largest. The firm has continued to lead private rounds, \u00a0including megadeals in defence tech and Alphabet\u2019s Isomorphic Labs, \u00a0but the Shopify position suggests that Kushner sees the public market as an increasingly important part of the opportunity set. When private valuations are measured in hundreds of billions, and public stocks in the same sectors have been discounted by 40%, the arithmetic can favour the listed company.<\/p>\n<p>Whether Thrive is right about Shopify depends on whether AI commerce becomes as transformative as the firm believes. The risk is that Shopify\u2019s deceleration is not a buying opportunity but the beginning of a structural slowdown as competition from Amazon, Temu, and an expanding ecosystem of AI-native commerce platforms intensifies. But Thrive has been willing to take concentrated, contrarian positions before, \u00a0in Carvana, in OpenAI before it was fashionable, in defence before it was lucrative, \u00a0and the returns have justified the approach. The Shopify bet is the latest test of whether the pattern holds.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" >Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/thrive-capital-shopify-public-market-ai-commerce\" target=\"_blank\" >Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TL;DR Joshua Kushner\u2019s Thrive Capital has invested roughly $100 million in Shopify, a rare public-market bet by the venture firm best known for backing OpenAI, SpaceX, and Stripe. Shopify stock is down approximately 40% year to date after guidance suggested slowing revenue growth. Thrive framed the investment as a bet on AI-driven commerce. The firm,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":727519,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/media.thenextweb.com\/2026\/05\/thrive-capital-shopify-public-market-ai-commerce.avif","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-727518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=727518"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727518\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/727519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=727518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=727518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=727518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}