Two school friends from north London have quietly built a business that turns short videos into steady sales. What began as a shared flat and similar career paths has become GoPlaces, a start-up pulling in millions by focusing on TikTok’s shopping features.
From schoolmates to e-commerce partners: the origin of GoPlaces
Sam Jacobs and Jack Finger met at school and later lived together at university. Both cut their teeth in online retail before deciding to join forces. They founded GoPlaces with a broad brief to help brands sell across digital marketplaces, but a trip abroad changed their direction.
Their friendship became the foundation of a professional partnership. They built trust early and agreed to keep personal ties separate from business disagreements. That clarity, they say, has kept decision-making calm under pressure.
What they saw in China that rewired their strategy
On a research visit to China, Jacobs and Finger observed how deeply social platforms are woven into daily shopping. Live shopping events ran around the clock and both luxury and everyday brands were generating strong sales through social channels.
That trip convinced them social commerce is not a regional oddity but a preview of a global shift. They pivoted GoPlaces to prioritise TikTok Shop and invested their energy and resources into mastering the channel.
Why TikTok Shop is central to their playbook
GoPlaces believes TikTok Shop is unique for its ability to turn discovery into checkout in seconds. While traditional digital ads often direct users away from the platform, TikTok keeps the transaction inside the app.
- Seamless purchase flow: content directly converts to sales with minimal friction.
- Mass attention: a large portion of the UK population uses TikTok monthly and spends significant time on the app.
- High engagement: entertainment-led discovery drives spontaneous buying.
According to GoPlaces, these dynamics make TikTok Shop especially powerful for brands focused on customer acquisition and rapid scale.
Early success: clients and revenue milestones
GoPlaces launched in 2024 and quickly picked up major brand work. Within two years the company reached an annual turnover of £6 million. Their client list spans household names and consumer staples.
Notable clients
- Samsung
- Mars
- Lola’s Cupcakes
- McCormick
- PepsiCo
The firm positions itself as a bridge between creative content and measurable commerce outcomes, providing technology, analytics and AI tools focused on TikTok Shop performance.
Funding, markets and rapid expansion plans
GoPlaces has recently attracted a funding round aimed at international growth. The company plans a staged rollout across Europe, starting in Germany, followed by broader continental expansion.
The United States is the next major target. GoPlaces intends to support American enterprise clients and scale services already tested with multinational brands.
Market research cited by the founders projects UK social commerce could be worth £100 billion by 2030. That projection informs their ambition to be a pan-region social commerce partner.
How their operating model works day to day
The business combines creative content strategy with marketplace operations. Key elements of their approach include:
- Audience-led content creation designed for short-form video.
- Integrated shop setups to reduce checkout steps.
- Real-time analytics and optimisation powered by AI.
- Live shopping events and influencer collaboration for peak engagement.
These capabilities let brands test, scale, and measure campaigns in a single loop, shortening the path from ad to sale.
Team dynamics and handling the pressure of fast growth
Running a start-up at speed brings stress. The founders say shared history helps during volatile periods. They deliberately separate friendship from business by setting clear expectations and practising frank conversations.
They credit humour and trust as tools for resilience. Small moments of relief, Jacobs notes, matter when the pressure peaks.
Looking ahead: broader social commerce and platform diversification
While TikTok Shop is their immediate focus, GoPlaces expects the social commerce landscape to evolve. They plan to extend services to emerging platforms as they mature.
The strategic goal is to be the technical and performance partner for global brands across multiple social marketplaces before 2030. For now, their playbook centres on maximising TikTok Shop while building tools that will transfer to new channels.
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