Founder of the Week: Nick Brackenbury

• Co-founder and CEO of NearSt, alongside co-founder, Max Kreijn
• The aim behind NearSt is to connect every shop (and every product) on every street to the internet
• The purpose of the platform is to make it easier for consumers to purchase goods from local stores rather than buy online
• Brackenbury and Kreijn were inspired by personal experience – a literal “lightbulb moment”

Tell Us About You and NearSt

I’m Nick Brackenbury, co-founder and CEO of NearSt. We’re building the infrastructure powering the future of retail. Our technology makes it possible for in-store products to appear on platforms like Google, Facebook, Just Eat and more, so shoppers can see what’s available in-stock locally, in real time.

Our belief is simple: we want to help create a world where every product in every shop on every street is connected to the web, and where it is truly easier to get something from a store nearby than have it delivered from an online store. Today, on our mission to make that happen, we process over 1 billion stock lines a day and work with 150+ inventory management systems across 800,000+ stores.

What Inspired You to Start NearSt? What Problem Were You Aiming To Solve?

NearSt began with a literal lightbulb moment. While getting ready for dinner guests, my co-founder Max Kreijn noticed his lightbulb had blown. He grabbed his phone to find a quick replacement nearby, but only saw results for distant warehouses and delivery for tomorrow. After 45 minutes and having visited several stores nearby, he finally found the bulb in a store just minutes from home, in the opposite direction he had set out from.

That frustration exposed a huge gap. He wondered why it was so easy to find a lightbulb 100 miles away, but so hard to find one 100 yards from my front door? What if we could connect store inventory directly to our phones?

That’s the gap we’re fixing. While 75% of shopping still happens in-store, most products remain invisible online. NearSt makes every product in every shop searchable and shoppable online, helping physical shops compete digitally and making it easier for people to buy nearby.

What Has Been Your Biggest Challenge So Far? How Did You Overcome It?

Our biggest challenge was getting live stock data from physical stores and integrating it directly into platforms like Google. We were told repeatedly it couldn’t be done. But instead of building in isolation, we took a partnership-first approach, working closely with retailers, inventory management providers, and the world’s biggest online platforms to solve it together.

That mindset made all the difference. This helped us work collaboratively and build upon the learnings and legacy of the industry, rather than trying to simply replace what was already there with new technology.

Can You Describe A Pivotal Moment That Significantly Shaped the Direction of NearSt?

In 2019, Google came to us. They were struggling to get accurate in-store inventory into search and wanted our help. That moment changed everything. Until then, NearSt was focused on being a retail marketplace. But Google’s request validated a much bigger opportunity: becoming the infrastructure powering live inventory visibility across the entire retail ecosystem. We pivoted the business, sharpened our focus, and rebuilt around a bold new mission. That single moment transformed NearSt from a useful app (now extinct) into foundational technology now powering real-time discovery for shoppers on the world’s largest platforms. 

How Do You Define Success? 

For Your Business: Success for NearSt is when a shopper searches online and finds exactly what they need on a shelf just down the road. It means that local stores are getting more footfall, selling more products, and competing digitally with the biggest names in retail. That’s the impact we’re here to create. And it all starts with one belief: that physical retail has huge untapped value, it just needs to be unlocked. When retailers see NearSt not as a tool, but as an essential part of their digital strategy, that’s when we know we’re succeeding.

As A Founder: For me, success is building something that reshapes an industry, while creating a team and culture people are proud to be part of. Leading NearSt isn’t just about technology, it’s about reigniting the connection between communities and their neighbourhood stores.

If we’re changing how the world shops, empowering everyday people to support local businesses more easily, and building a team that’s excited to come to work each day, that’s real success. Titles and exits are fleeting. But building something with lasting impact, for retailers, for shoppers, and for the people around you, is what matters most.

What Advice Would You Give To Someone Considering Launching Their Own Startup?

Build with, not for, your audience. We didn’t sit in a room guessing what retailers needed, we worked alongside them, every step of the way. That collaboration helped us succeed where others failed.

Also: persist. You’ll hear “it can’t be done” more times than you can count. But if you’re solving a real problem, with empathy and clarity, keep going. Innovation rarely happens in straight lines. The magic comes from staying close to your customer and being relentlessly curious, even when the path forward isn’t obvious.

What’s Next For NearSt? Are There Any Exciting Developments We Should Keep An Eye Out For?

The next phase of NearSt is scaling our infrastructure globally and helping physical stores connect with shoppers in more ways, from search and social to delivery apps. We’re developing AI-powered insights and predictive tools to help retailers stock smarter, waste less, and serve customers better.

As retail evolves into Total Commerce, where every product, platform, and shopper is connected, we’re building the infrastructure between all of these places. The future of retail isn’t just digital or physical. It’s live, local, and seamlessly connected. And we’re right at the centre of it.

Want to be featured as TechRound’s Founder of the Week? Find out more about this weekly feature and how to get involved here.

Founder’s Five with Nick Brackenbury

Professional acumen is one thing, but we want to know more about the man whose pursuit of a lightbulb led to the establishment of a massively successful startup in London. Here’s our exclusive “Founder’s Five” with Nick Brackebury.

1. Favourite Business Tool?

Superhuman. It might sound crazy to pay for an email client, but it makes managing your inbox and follow-ups so much faster and more effective. Time is the one thing no one gets more of – no matter how successful or big you get – so reducing how much of if you spend on low-value but essential tasks like email is one of the most high-value investments you can make. 

2. One Lesson You’ve Learned the Hard Way?

The amount of time you invest in developing a solid hiring process directly correlates with the quality of your hires. It’s super obvious in hindsight, but in the early days of the company we thought we could just outsource this to recruiters and they’d bring us great people, we’d interview them a couple times, and that’s all it would take. 

3. A Future Trend You’re Watching?

I’m so curious to see how consumer shopping behaviours evolve as more and more brick-and-mortar stock data comes online. At some point, it will pass a tipping point where people just expect every LLM response, tagged product on Instagram, search result, etc… to have a mix of online and in-store options. What will that do to shopping behaviours when ecommerce has to compete with broad super super-convenient local availability? I think it will have quite profound, positive effects on high streets and brick-and-mortar retail. 

4. One Quote You Live By?

The safe path isn’t as safe as it seems. The risky one isn’t as risky as it looks.

5. A book/podcast you recommend?

‘The Great CEO Within’ by Matt Mochary. If you can get past the awkward title, it’s super practical for anyone looking to build a company.

Want to be featured as TechRound’s Founder of the Week? Know someone who deserves to be recognised as a founder making waves in the startup landscape? Find out more about this weekly feature and how to get involved here.