Recharge was founded in 2014 by Oisin O’Connor and Mike Flynn. They noticed that Shopify didn’t have native subscription support, and the existing solutions were clunky bolt-ons. They built Recharge specifically to handle recurring orders for physical goods — think coffee, supplements, pet food, and meal kits.
The platform integrates deeply with Shopify (and also supports BigCommerce and custom storefronts via API). It manages subscription creation, payment processing, order scheduling, and customer self-service portals. Subscribers can skip deliveries, swap products, change quantities, and update payment methods without contacting support.
Recharge raised $277 million in Series B funding in 2021 from Summit Partners and ICONIQ Growth at a $2.1 billion valuation. That round reflected the massive growth in subscription e-commerce during and after the pandemic.
The platform processes over $20 billion in annual recurring revenue for its merchants. More than 20,000 brands use Recharge, including Dr. Axe, Oatly, Native, and Bumpin Blends. The company claims that merchants using its platform see subscriber retention rates significantly above industry averages.
Recharge’s analytics dashboard tracks subscription-specific metrics — subscriber LTV, churn reasons, acquisition cohorts, and revenue forecasts. RechargeSMS lets merchants engage subscribers through text messages for reorder reminders and product recommendations. The company employs around 600 people, operating primarily remotely with offices in Santa Monica and distributed across the US.
