Shopify seems to be on an investment spree as the multimillionaire brand has acquired yet another startup called Remix. Remix aims to develop an open-source web framework to leverage native browsers or distributed systems to make browsing easier and faster.
Shopify is known for investing in brands that are likely to improve the experience of a web user, primarily because Shopify itself is a platform for online shopping. This successful acquisition was announced today by the companies in a joint statement.
Remix’s CEO Michael Jackson said, “You’ll be seeing a lot more [of the Remix framework] in the wild, powering some of the largest commercial sites on the web.” “In addition, Shopify itself will use Remix across many projects, and you can expect to see more of Shopify’s developer platform including first-class support for Remix over time,” he added.
The CEO also said this acquisition will strongly benefit the startup as this financial backing will allow the startup to grow exponentially and the web framework will soon be seen being used by many leading brands.
Who founded Remix and how is Shopify related to the brand?
Remix is a startup founded in 2020 by an ex-twitter engineer, Ryan Florence and its co-founder Michael Jackson. The two started Remix in 2020 however, were already working together on another equally viable technology called React Router. The same is built around the JavaScript library, React, creating open-source tools for the same.
The relationship between Remix and Shopify is not new because Shopify has previously also used the React Router for its front-end web development framework. The relationship between the two has been quite old and it is only plausible that Shopify wishes to invest in their new startup that aims to make web browsing easier.
In a blog post posted on Shopify’s official blog, the author, Dion Almaer, the VP of Engineering at Shopify, expressed that the goals of both Shopify and Remix are aligned as they both wish to smoothen the browsing experience for web users.
The blog read, “As we spent time talking with Remix founders Ryan Florence and Michael Jackson about where we both want to push the web, we realized we were perfectly aligned on a major goal: it needs to be much easier for developers to deliver lightning fast, resilient experiences on the web.”
What is the objective of Remix?
The primary objective of Remix is to make browsing easier and faster. The objective will be achieved by sophisticatedly developing an open-source web framework to support native browsers or distributed systems while suppressing back-end server tasks at the same time to increase efficiency. Another important feature of this web framework is that it’ll be linked to all the leading public cloud systems such as Google Cloud, Amazon Web services, Netflify, etc.
One of the primary features of Remix is that it’ll achieve the objective of a smoother browsing experience through the element of prefetching. By parallelly fetching important elements like buttons and text boxes, the framework aims to speed up page loading.
“An important idea that Remix is bringing back into focus is the classic progressive enhancement. All links, buttons, and forms in your Remix app already work before JavaScript loads on the page. This provides an immediate, solid-feeling experience for users, especially on mobile where bandwidth is constrained. It can be the difference between annoying someone with a loading spinner or engaging them immediately with content,” posted Dion Almaer on Shopify’s official blog.
What will be the impact of Shopify’s acquisition of Remix?
Shopify itself is a leading online shopping platform that has allowed millions of content creators and other small business owners to set up online shops. Being one major online platform itself, it seeks fast and easy web browsing to make it easier for its customers to access Shopify stores. By investing in a startup that has the potential to transform the web browsing experience, Shopify is not only helping the startup expand and grow but is also growing its horizons.
Given the fact that the goals and ideals of the two brands coincide, it is only fair that the bigger brand, Shopify, gives the smaller one a financial boost and allows it to reach greater heights to not only benefit Remix but also itself. The result shall not only be a significantly improved browsing experience for Shopify but also overall web growth as Remix shall be employed by other leading brands too.
“Shopify was built by entrepreneurs, so we understand how important it is that the Remix team has the space to do what they do best. The Remix project has a rich open-source community and ecosystem, and we want to see it continue to grow. Open source continues to play a vital role in the success of Shopify and our partners, and we’re always looking for ways to give back,” said Dion Almaer, the VP of Engineering at Shopify.
