Launch of Proprietary Live Commerce Software & JV

Huddled Group plc AIM: HUD, the circular-economy e-commerce group, announces the launch of its proprietary live-commerce technology and the formation of a joint venture with AEWW Limited ("AEWW"), operator of the AE Stores channel on Whatnot.

Scalable live-commerce infrastructure

Live commerce is the fusion of live-streaming, auctions, community chat and entertainment. It is reshaping how consumers shop online, with platforms such as Whatnot, TikTok Shop and eBay Live driving rapid growth in buyer engagement and order volumes.

Huddled has developed software intended to address a key constraint in scaling live commerce: the coordination of stock, orders and fulfilment across multiple sellers and platforms.

The system connects third-party live-commerce sellers to Huddled's centralised stock pool and fulfilment infrastructure. This allows presenters to focus on content and sales, while Huddled manages stock allocation, order processing and delivery.

The Board considers that this integrated model enables the Group to operate a network of live-commerce channels and partners, supported by shared inventory and centralised fulfilment, improving stock utilisation and operational efficiency.

Joint venture with AEWW

Huddled has entered into a joint venture with AEWW to accelerate growth in live auctions under the Peeko brand. AEWW, which was incorporated in March 2026, has grown its AE Stores following on Whatnot to 36.5k in under six months.

Powered by Huddled's newly-developed software solution, AE Stores will be rebranded Peeko Gadgets and brought into the venture alongside the existing Peeko stores which focus on beauty and treats, with further stores to be launched on the Whatnot platform as the venture scales.

The joint venture will focus exclusively on the Whatnot platform, which is the leader in this emerging sector. Current dwell times (time a consumer spends on site) are circa 90 minutes on this platform compared to only a few minutes on traditional e-commerce platforms.

Martin Higginson, Executive Chairman of Huddled Group plc, commented:

"Our early live commerce tests produced very encouraging results, prompting us to develop a proprietary software solution for this fast-growing market. Our software lets sellers focus entirely on what they do best: selling. Behind the scenes, they will be tapping into our centralised stock pool and fulfilment engine. The ability to offer next-day delivery on these platforms will, we believe, be a genuine game changer.

"The addition of AE Stores' audience and experience provides immediate scale. Under the Peeko brand, we expect to expand into further channels, categories and partnerships."

Jason McNeill and Regan McNeill, Joint Managing Directors of AEWW Limited, said:

"The biggest challenge we faced as a business was fulfilment - every time we accelerated sales, we hit a bottleneck on stock and delivery. The partnership with Huddled will remove those barriers entirely. Being able to offer next-day delivery on orders placed up to 11pm gives us a real USP in the Whatnot marketplace.

"We can now focus on our core strength - building a strong community and driving sales in what is the fastest-growing sector in e-commerce. With the stock and fulfilment headache solved, we can scale with confidence across additional stores and streams. We are pleased to bring AE Stores into the Peeko brand as Peeko Gadgets and see strong potential to scale the model further."