Fanfare
10 employees on LinkedIn · 2 known investors
Fanfare is a launch experience platform for consumer brands running high-demand product drops, providing queues, lotteries, auctions, appointments, and mystery boxes along with bot detection, real-time monitoring, and SMS/email notifications. It deploys on Shopify or via API/SDK on custom stacks and captures behavioral data and consumer profiles to inform future launches.
Also known as Waitify, Inc
Founders & leadership
Investors · 2
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Fanfare is a software platform for planning and running limited product launches, or "drops," for e-commerce brands. The product is organized around three stages: pre-launch demand capture (waitlists, announcements, registration flows and six launch formats), launch day (queues, lotteries, appointment scheduling and bot-resistant access), and post-launch (fan profiles, VIP signals and marketing segments). It is built to operate natively inside Shopify, with white-labeled front-end components, countdowns and registration forms that sit within a merchant's own store.
Features listed by the company include no-code launch creation, one-click Shopify integration, SMS notifications for queue turns, Klaviyo-ready syncing of waiting-room data into email and SMS flows, consumer profiles, real-time launch analytics, queue randomization at launch time intended to disadvantage bots and resellers, an API and SDK, and cross-device session continuity. A real-time monitoring console allows operators to observe participation and adjust a launch while it is running. The company also publishes a blog of commentary and case studies on drop culture, sneaker and ticketing releases, retail calendars and launch-day failures.
The website operator is identified in the terms of service as Waitify, Inc, a company registered in California with an address in Los Angeles.
Founding story
The founding team describes itself as having previously built platforms that handled large-scale ticketing onsales, and as having experienced queues, bot activity and failed drops as fans; the stated aim is to let brands convert launch demand into direct fan relationships while blocking automated buyers.
Business model
Fanfare sells its drop-management software to brands as a subscription, integrated with Shopify and, on higher tiers, Klaviyo and custom systems. Enterprise engagements add API and SDK access, advanced analytics, loyalty and audience creation, and dedicated account management.
Tiered monthly SaaS subscriptions: a Starter plan starting at $99 per month (up to 1,000 participants per launch, up to 10,000 messages per month, Shopify integration, standard support); a Pro plan starting at $399 per month (up to 10,000 participants per launch, up to 100,000 messages per month, Shopify plus Klaviyo integration, performance analytics and audience insights, priority support); and a custom-priced Enterprise plan with unlimited participants, custom message volume, the full integration suite, API and SDK access, advanced analytics and dedicated account management.
Traction
The company advertises tiered capacity up to unlimited participants per launch on its Enterprise plan and references launches drawing thousands of concurrent participants; it publishes case-study and commentary content on drops by third-party brands.
Latest developments
Terms of service were last updated on 2026-03-25 under the entity Waitify, Inc. The company continued regular blog publication through 2026 covering drop-culture topics such as sneaker releases, ticketing controversies and seasonal retail calendars.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history
Market position
Fanfare positions itself in "experiential commerce," competing on fairness and reliability during high-demand launches rather than on general e-commerce tooling. Its team frames its background in ticketing platforms built for large-scale onsales as the basis for handling retail drop traffic.
Stated points of difference are native operation inside Shopify without custom development, fully white-labeled storefront components, queue randomization and bot detection intended to prioritize genuine fans over resellers, and the retention of fan-level data after each drop for VIP identification and downstream Klaviyo campaigns.
Technology
The platform provides virtual waiting rooms and queues, lotteries, appointment booking, registration flows and countdown components delivered as white-labeled elements within Shopify storefronts. Bot mitigation combines detection and isolation systems with queue randomization at launch, so ordering is not determined by arrival speed. Data collected during events feeds consumer profiles, real-time analytics dashboards and Klaviyo segments. The company states its infrastructure is designed to absorb simultaneous traffic surges — citing scenarios such as 14,000 fans hitting a single URL — and was built by engineers who previously worked at Google and Salesforce.
Go-to-market
Direct sign-up and self-serve plan selection from the website, plus sales-led motions for Pro and Enterprise tiers via "Contact Us" and booked calls, alongside a waitlist. The company runs a content program of launch guides, drop calendars and case-study posts on its blog as a demand-generation channel, and distributes via the Shopify ecosystem.
E-commerce and consumer brands running hype-driven or limited-inventory product launches on Shopify, ranging from brands managing their first drop to teams running recurring drops and enterprises operating high-volume launches.
Geography
The operating entity, Waitify, Inc, is registered in California and lists an address at 12760 Millennium Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90094, United States.
History
The website's blog has published posts since at least June 2025 and continued through 2026, and the terms of service were last updated in March 2026.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Fanfarefanfare.io · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Fanfare do?
- Fanfare is a Shopify-native platform for running product drops with waitlists, queues, lotteries and bot-resistant access.
- Who founded Fanfare?
- Fanfare was founded by Michael Dodsworth.
- Who are Fanfare's investors?
- Fanfare's investors include Infinity Ventures, Capitalize VC.