Brave the Skies

What Brave the Skies does

Brave the Skies is a certified Shopify Plus agency headquartered at Jactin House, 24 Hood Street, Ancoats, Manchester, that designs, builds, and grows online stores for mid-market and enterprise fashion and lifestyle brands. Founded in 2014 and acquired by Dark Matter Commerce in 2022, the agency operates as "Mission Control" within a Manchester-based digital commerce transformation collective whose other arms are Space 48 (BigCommerce/Adobe Commerce), Bring Digital (performance marketing, acquired May 2023), and This Is Digital (acquired April 2025), with Foresight Group as the institutional investor backing the group.

The agency's core product is a professional services suite organised around three practice areas: UX & Design Services (research-led design using think-aloud usability studies, card sorting, and tree testing), Shopify Development Services (bespoke Shopify Plus builds, migrations from Magento and other platforms, custom apps, code audits, and integrations), and a Growth Retainer offering a dedicated Growth Manager plus ongoing design and development resources. Underlying technology is the Shopify Plus platform augmented by an in-house lightweight framework, Moonbase 3, used to deliver high-performance storefronts with documented Core Web Vitals of 95-99/100. Brave the Skies is a non-trivial systems integrator of third-party commerce technologies, including Klaviyo, Klevu, Gorgias, Global-E, Algolia, Yotpo, Ometria, Advanced Commerce, Patchworks, Brightpearl, Recharge, Loyalty Lion, Akeneo, Elevar, and Matrixify, and publishes the Be Brave Podcast as a thought-leadership channel targeting ecommerce founders.

Commercially, Brave the Skies runs a consultative, enterprise-focused GTM with direct B2B outreach, case-study-led selling, and referrals, quoting services on a per-engagement basis. Pricing includes pay-as-you-go top-up packs (£60/hour, £600 for 20 hours) and monthly Growth Retainer subscriptions. Documented client outcomes include +153% online orders and +32% AOV for Drakes, +239% total sales and +138% AOV for Sahara London, +227% online orders for Ro & Zo, and +89% conversion rate plus 95/100 Core Web Vitals for Urban Jungle, providing the quantified evidence base that underpins the agency's enterprise sales motion.

Name

Brave the Skies

Legal name

Brave the Skies

Website

https://bravetheskies.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Brave the Skies is a certified Shopify Plus agency, owned by Dark Matter Commerce, that designs, builds, and grows online stores for mid-market and enterprise fashion and lifestyle brands through bespoke builds, migrations, and ongoing growth retainers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

York

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Shopify Plus Agency Services (Design, Development & Retainer): Brave the Skies earns revenue through bespoke Shopify Plus builds, site migrations, UX design, development, and ongoing Growth Retainer engagements. Services include monthly retainers with dedicated Growth Managers providing design, development, and strategic support on a continuous basis.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Brave the Skies is a Manchester-based Shopify Plus Agency Partner that builds, designs, and grows ecommerce stores for fashion and lifestyle brands. The agency provides UX research-led design, custom Shopify Plus development, site migration from legacy platforms, B2B functionality implementation, and ongoing growth retainer services. Its work is powered by the proprietary Moonbase 3 internal Shopify framework that accelerates delivery and standardizes quality.

Product overview

Brave the Skies is a certified Shopify Plus Agency Partner offering a unified suite of eCommerce services organized around three core practice areas: UX & Design Services (research-led user experience design including usability studies, card sorting, and elegant web design with advanced prototyping), Shopify Development Services (bespoke Shopify Plus builds, site speed optimization, migration and integrations, custom apps, and code audits), and Growth Retainer (ongoing monthly engagement providing design/development resources and strategic enhancements). The portfolio also includes Migration Services for platform transitions from legacy systems, B2B Functionality for wholesale implementations, and the Be Brave Podcast for brand storytelling. Clients engage across this portfolio via project-based engagements or monthly retainer arrangements.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• UX Research & Design UX research-led design service that translates brand identity into high-converting Shopify Plus customer experiences for fashion and lifestyle brands. The service combines user research, journey mapping, and design to inform the storefront build.
• Shopify Plus Design & Development End-to-end Shopify Plus design and development service for enterprise and mid-market fashion and lifestyle brands, including custom theme work, integrations, and platform builds on the Shopify Plus commerce platform.
• Growth Retainer Ongoing post-launch growth retainer service that continues optimizing, testing, and evolving a client's Shopify Plus store after the initial build, framed as a long-term partnership rather than a one-off project hand-off.
• Shopify Plus Re-platforming & Migrations Dedicated re-platforming and migration service that moves brands from legacy ecommerce platforms (e.g., Magento, WooCommerce, Salesforce Commerce Cloud) onto Shopify Plus, covering migration strategy, data, design, and rebuild.
• B2B Functionality on Shopify Plus Implementation service that adds B2B functionality (price lists, custom catalogs, trade customer features) to Shopify Plus stores, enabling brands to operate B2B and DTC operations on a single commerce platform.

Quantifiable outcome

• Drakes: +153% online orders, +14% conversion rate, +32% AOV, +21% returning customers post-migration
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration22 records

AI capability3 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• This Is DigitalcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 April 2025Performance marketing agency acquired by Dark Matter Commerce on 4 April 2025, enhancing the group's full-service digital commerce capabilities. The acquisition brings the group to ~180 headcount and £16m combined revenues.
• Bring DigitalcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 May 2023Performance marketing agency acquired by Dark Matter Commerce in May 2023. Now part of the collective alongside Brave the Skies, enabling full-service ecommerce solutions. Bring Digital has 45 specialists in SEO, PPC, affiliates, and commercial analytics.
• Space 48coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021BigCommerce and Adobe Commerce (Magento) specialist agency within the Dark Matter Commerce collective. Forms part of the group alongside Brave the Skies (Shopify Plus) and Bring Digital (performance marketing).
• Shopify PluscoreTechnology or IntegrationCertified Shopify Plus Partner. Brave the Skies is recognised as a specialist agency for designing, building, and growing Shopify Plus stores. Partner logo displayed prominently on homepage.
• Bring DigitalminorGTM or Marketing PartnerBrave the Skies partnered with Bring Digital (a sister agency under Dark Matter Commerce) to ensure Urban Jungle's new site was fully optimised for SEO during the Magento-to-Shopify migration.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Space 48: Sister agency within Dark Matter Commerce, specialising in BigCommerce and Adobe Commerce (Magento). Comparable as a UK-based commerce agency serving enterprise and mid-market brands under the same parent collective.
• Bring Digital: Sister agency within Dark Matter Commerce, a 45-person performance marketing specialist in SEO, PPC, affiliates, and commercial analytics. Comparable as a UK-based digital commerce service provider serving the same fashion and DTC client base.
• This Is Digital: Sister agency acquired by Dark Matter Commerce in April 2025, expanding the group's full-service digital commerce capabilities. Comparable as a UK-based performance marketing/digital agency within the same collective.
• We Make Websites: Certified Shopify Plus agency based in the UK serving enterprise and mid-market fashion and lifestyle brands with bespoke builds, migrations, and CRO services — closely comparable to BTS' core offering.
• OuterBox: US-based Shopify Plus agency offering design, development, and SEO services for ecommerce brands. Comparable as a Shopify Plus specialist agency serving mid-market and enterprise DTC/fashion brands with bespoke builds and ongoing optimisation.
• Eastside Co: UK-based Shopify Plus agency specialising in fashion and lifestyle brand builds, migrations, and CRO. Directly comparable to BTS in vertical focus, geographic market, and Shopify Plus partnership depth.
• WeAreTomorrow: Dutch Shopify Plus agency providing design, development, and growth services for DTC and fashion brands across Europe. Comparable as a specialist European Shopify Plus agency targeting similar mid-market and enterprise fashion clients.
• Swanky Agency: UK-based Shopify Plus agency with a fashion and lifestyle focus, offering bespoke builds, migrations, and retainer growth services. Comparable in vertical, geography, and service portfolio to Brave the Skies.
• Underwater Agency: Shopify Plus specialist agency serving fashion and lifestyle brands with design, development, and CRO. Comparable as a Shopify Plus-focused agency with similar target client base in fashion/DTC.

Broad incumbents

• Accenture Interactive (now Accenture Song): Global system integrator with deep Shopify Plus practice and broad commerce transformation capabilities. Comparable as a large-scale commerce agency that competes for the same enterprise fashion/DTC brand budgets, though operating at very different scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bravetheskies
• Xx.com/bravetheskies

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Brave the Skies