VideoShops co-founders Nicole Winnaman and Abra Potkin
Nicole Winnaman VideoShops is the story of a talent-and-brand dealmaker who built a celebrity affiliate business, hit a ceiling and then rebuilt the model so that anyone, not only celebrities, could run a shoppable storefront and get paid the same day. Winnaman is co-founder and co-CEO of VideoShops, a New York social commerce platform she runs with Abra Potkin. According to Inc., the pair raised $42 million from investors including former Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, Greycroft co-founder Dana Settle and baseball star Alex Rodriguez. Here is how Winnaman got there, how the platform works, what the funding numbers show and what remains unproven.
Nicole Winnaman VideoShops: Who Are the Founders?
VideoShops has two co-founders and co-CEOs. A PR Newswire release describes it as a social commerce platform founded by Abra Potkin and Nicole Winnaman and built to disrupt the outdated affiliate retail model. Crunchbase lists Potkin as CEO and Winnaman as co-CEO and co-founder of the parent company, NOWwith Ventures Inc., while Tracxn lists both as co-founders and co-CEOs.
The company’s website is signed “NOWwith Ventures Inc.” and describes a platform where anyone can turn on their own VideoShop, whether a side hustle or full-time gig, and make money sharing products they love. The release attributes different parts of the mission to each founder: Winnaman talks about the technology and merchants, Potkin about removing barriers between influence and income.
The sources reviewed do not describe Potkin’s career before the company in detail, so this article does not. The pairing of two founders from the talent and entertainment side is the core of the Nicole Winnaman VideoShops story.
Winnaman & Associates: Two Decades of Talent-Brand Deals
Winnaman’s career before VideoShops was in partnerships between celebrities and brands. According to her LinkedIn profile, she has been CEO and founder of Winnaman & Associates in Santa Monica since 2000, a company the profile describes as globally recognized for architecting innovative, white-glove partnerships between high-profile talent and brands.
That background matters for a commerce platform built on influence. A talent and brand dealmaker learns how endorsements are priced, what brands want from creators and where deals break down: approvals, slow payments and unclear measurement. Those were the frustrations VideoShops later targeted.
The profile also lists Winnaman’s location as the Santa Monica area and her current role at VideoShops as co-CEO and co-founder in New York. Two decades in talent partnerships is the relationship foundation of Nicole Winnaman VideoShops.
NOWwith and Celebrity Affiliate Links
The first company was NOWwith. Inc. reports that in 2018 Potkin and Winnaman founded the shoppable entertainment company, which created affiliate links for celebrities rather than for influencers. Winnaman’s LinkedIn bio describes NOWwith as a proprietary video commerce platform that enables creators to become digital retailers, powered by what she calls the first and only Universal Merchant Engine for social commerce.
The business made money. Inc. quotes Potkin saying NOWwith “made a lot of money,” but that the co-founders were having a very hard time figuring out how to scale beyond paid advertising. The company’s operating license from Verizon Media Group came up for renewal, and instead of renewing it the founders decided to raise capital.
NOWwith also had a physical side: a 2022 Commercial Observer story, cited by Tracxn, described the celebrity-backed startup signing deals with fashion brands in SoHo. The celebrity affiliate years are the proving ground of Nicole Winnaman VideoShops, and they explain why the founders understood both the upside and the limits of the model.
Inner Circle Brands
Winnaman had a parallel venture. Her LinkedIn profile lists her as co-CEO and co-founder of Inner Circle Brands from January 2018 to January 2024, describing it as a modern venture studio for building, accelerating and scaling the influencer-backed brands of tomorrow, powered by NOWwith.
A venture studio that builds brands with influencers shows the logic behind the platform. If influencers can create demand, a technology layer should let them capture the value directly, without waiting for brand approvals. The sources reviewed do not describe which brands the studio built or how they performed.
The studio timeline overlaps with NOWwith and the start of VideoShops, which suggests a founder who worked on several related ideas at once. That overlap is part of how Nicole Winnaman VideoShops took shape.
The Problem: Gatekept Affiliate Retail
The problem VideoShops describes is that affiliate retail was built for brands, not creators. Winnaman told WWD that creators need to be approved by brands to have their content monetized with single-product links, and that they do not even get paid the same day.
Every other platform, she said in the same piece, redirects to the brand to transact, and VideoShops lets brands pay anyone who influences a sale and lets anybody shop or sell any product in its marketplace. Potkin added that the platform helps brands measure influencers’ conversion rates.
For a small creator, the old model has several barriers: applying to each brand, waiting for approval, managing links across programs and waiting weeks for payment. For brands, paying only on measured sales is attractive, but managing thousands of small creators is not. That friction is the problem Nicole Winnaman VideoShops set out to solve.
Building VideoShops: The Universal Merchant Engine
The technology at the center is the Universal Merchant Engine, or UME. In the launch release, Winnaman said it lets any retailer distribute its full catalog across millions of commissionable storefronts, powered by real people sharing what they love. Inc. says the founders used the raised capital to hire a technology team to “completely rebuild affiliate retail,” and reports an impressive native checkout tool that aims to make affiliate links obsolete.
The platform handles the plumbing that normally slows affiliate selling. Merchants connect their catalogs, creators pick products and the system tracks attribution, commissions and payouts. The company’s website also describes a marketplace where creators search for products and add them to their storefront.
Whether the engine can scale across retailers with very different systems is the technical question. The company says it works with major affiliate retailers and direct e-commerce brands. The engine is the technical backbone of Nicole Winnaman VideoShops.
How a Storefront Works: No Approvals, No Fees, No Inventory
The VideoShops website lays out the creator experience simply. Users personalize and launch their storefront in under a minute. Then they add products to share, with no need for brand approvals. Finally, they get paid. The page promises three “no’s”: no approvals, no fees and no inventory.
The storefront is shoppable on social platforms. The site says that once creators add products to their VideoShops storefront, they are shoppable within every social platform in seconds, and it shows a QR code and share buttons. Sample storefronts on the homepage belong to individual creators.
The company calls this “Selling Made Simple,” and the homepage addresses everyone, from a side hustle to a full-time career. A storefront with no cost to start lowers the barrier for beginners. It also means the company’s revenue must come from somewhere else, most likely a share of commissions, a point the sources reviewed do not describe. The storefront is the product experience of Nicole Winnaman VideoShops.
Same-Day Pay Through Venmo
The payout feature is the platform’s headline promise. The homepage says: “We know it sounds too good to be true!” Venmo automatically connects to a creator’s mobile number, and sales commissions are paid out daily. The FAQ links to help articles on same-day pay.
In the WWD coverage, Winnaman framed it as a response to creator frustration. A November 2025-era press release says VideoShops offers instant storefronts, same-day pay on sales and no gatekeeping. A 2025 PR Newswire release on the earlier launch says commissions of 10% to 50% are paid via Venmo the moment a transaction completes.
Same-day pay is unusual in affiliate marketing, where payments typically follow a retailer’s return window, often weeks or months. The company does not explain in the sources reviewed how it funds the gap or handles returns. Same-day pay is the signature feature of Nicole Winnaman VideoShops, and it is worth understanding the terms before relying on it.
The Marketplace: 250,000 Products to Millions
The product catalog grew quickly. The early 2025 launch release said VideoShops offered over 250,000 top-shelf products in the beauty and wellness space, all paying 10% to 50% sales commissions. The homepage now promises access to millions of commissionable products and a brand directory.
The beauty and wellness focus fits creator content, which skews toward those categories, and it gives creators a wide range of price points. The company also says it works with affiliate retailers and direct brands, and offers a separate “For Brands” page.
Product counts are company claims, and the number that matters to creators is what actually converts and what commission it pays after returns. The marketplace is the supply side of Nicole Winnaman VideoShops, and its depth will determine whether creators stay.
Relaunching as VideoShops
The company’s naming history is part of the story. Inc. reports that NOWwith relaunched with a new business model, a new technology infrastructure and a new name: VideoShops. A PR Newswire release says VideoShops.com was founded in 2021 by Potkin and Winnaman, while Winnaman’s LinkedIn dates her involvement with the company to January 2018 or 2019, reflecting the NOWwith years.
The coverage dates are not consistent. A WWD piece and an earlier release describe VideoShops as new in early 2025, and a later release describes a launch with instant storefronts and same-day pay. The App Store listing shows an iOS app, and the footer shows a copyright year of 2025.
The practical point is that the company went through a reset from celebrity-affiliate business to open creator platform, and its public rollout came in stages. Sources differ on exact dates, so readers should treat the timeline as approximate. The relaunch is the pivot at the center of Nicole Winnaman VideoShops.
The $18M Seed and $42M Total
The funding story has two numbers. A 2021 PR Newswire release said the co-founders had raised $18 million in two seed funding rounds, with investors including Jeff Ubben of ValueAct Capital, Marc Lore of Jet.com and Alex Rodriguez leading the rounds. Later coverage uses a larger figure: Inc. headlines a $42 million raise, and Tracxn says the company has raised $42 million over two rounds from five investors, two institutional and three angels.
The 2025 launch release says VideoShops is backed by over $42 million in funding from a group of tech investors. The difference between $18 million and $42 million may reflect additional capital raised after 2021, but the sources reviewed do not itemize it. Crunchbase lists a seed round with Ruttenberg Gordon Investments and Greycroft.
Tracxn’s entry of a seed round dated August 12, 2025 appears to line up with the launch press release, not a separate financing, so it should be read with caution. For comparison with companies that publish detailed rounds, see our story on Passionfroot, and for more on how funding shapes young companies, see our Funding News section. The funding total is the headline figure in Nicole Winnaman VideoShops.
The Investors Backing Nicole Winnaman
The investor list is unusually well known. Named backers across the releases and articles include Jeff Ubben, Marc Lore, Alex Rodriguez, Dick Costolo, Kevin Mayer, Shervin Pishevar and Chris Barkley, plus Dana Settle of Greycroft and Alec Litowitz, according to the 2025 launch release and the earlier PR Newswire piece.
Advisors include Lisa Stone, co-founder and CEO of BlogHer, who said she joined as an advisor because she wants every founder and brand to have an opportunity to bootstrap their customer community with a business-friendly retail model.
Rodriguez told WWD that VideoShops breaks down barriers for creators and brands, making it easier than ever to turn passion into profit, and described Potkin and Winnaman as reshaping the future of commerce. A 2021 release also quoted an investor saying the two women co-founders have a big competitive advantage. The roster of tech and e-commerce investors strengthens Nicole Winnaman VideoShops, and it signals confidence from people who have built large commerce companies.
For Brands: Pay Anyone Who Influences a Sale
Brands are the platform’s paying side. The website has a “For Brands” page and a brand directory. Winnaman’s pitch to brands, as quoted by WWD, is that VideoShops allows them to pay anyone who influences a sale, not only the creators they have pre-approved.
Potkin framed the benefit for smaller brands: for brands that cannot sustain going into retail, they are able to tap into a megaphone. The model is a pay-for-performance system, so a brand pays commission only when a sale happens.
For brands, the appeal is reach without upfront cost. The risk is brand control: with open storefronts, anyone can sell a product, so brands must trust the platform’s rules and measurement. The brand side is the revenue engine behind Nicole Winnaman VideoShops.
Where VideoShops Stands in Social Commerce
Social commerce is crowded. Established creator-commerce and affiliate platforms, marketplace affiliate programs and in-app social shopping tools all compete for creator attention and brand budgets. Social platforms also run their own shops.
VideoShops’ differentiators are clear. It offers instant storefronts with no approvals or fees. It pays same-day through a payment app. It uses a universal catalog engine so a single storefront can sell across retailers. And it comes from founders with deep ties to celebrity and brand partnerships.
The risks are real. Affiliate economics depend on commission rates and retailer cooperation. Same-day pay creates financial exposure. Open selling raises quality and brand-safety questions. Social platforms can change rules on links and shops. And the company has to prove creators earn meaningful money. In a crowded field, Nicole Winnaman VideoShops competes on speed, openness and a high-profile cap table.
Risks and Open Questions
A fair article on a creator-commerce company should name the open questions.
Revenue model. The sources reviewed do not describe how VideoShops earns money beyond commissions, or what share it keeps.
Creator earnings. The site promises income, but no public data on typical creator earnings appear in the sources reviewed.
Funding totals. $18 million (2021) and $42 million (2025) appear in different sources and are not itemized.
Dates. Founding and launch dates differ across press releases, the company site and founder profiles.
Same-day pay mechanics. How returns, fraud and merchant payment timing are handled is not described.
Regulation. Creators must follow advertising disclosure rules, and platforms change policies often.
None of these is unusual for a startup in this space. Naming them is part of an honest look at Nicole Winnaman VideoShops.
Leadership Style and What’s Next
Winnaman and Potkin lead as a duo with distinct roles. Winnaman speaks about merchants, technology and the rebuild of affiliate retail, while Potkin speaks about creators, access and removing barriers. Their quotes are marketing-driven and bold, such as Winnaman comparing the platform to Uber and Potkin saying they turned sharing into global currency.
Their track record is deal-making and relationship-building, and the cap table shows they are good at it. The visible roadmap includes growing the creator base through the iOS app, expanding the brand directory and adding more retailers to the Universal Merchant Engine.
The test will be proving real creator earnings and brand results at scale. That discipline will define the next chapter of Nicole Winnaman VideoShops.
Lessons From the Nicole Winnaman VideoShops Journey
The Nicole Winnaman VideoShops journey offers five practical lessons for founders.
First, learn from a model that works but does not scale. NOWwith made money but hit a ceiling, and the founders rebuilt it.
Second, remove the barrier your customer complains about most. Approvals and slow payments were creators’ biggest pain points, and VideoShops targeted both.
Third, use your network. Decades in talent partnerships helped the founders attract well-known investors.
Fourth, start with a clear promise. “No approvals, no fees, no inventory” is easy to understand and repeat.
Fifth, explain the economics. Same-day pay and open selling are powerful claims that need transparent terms to build trust.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Nicole Winnaman?
Nicole Winnaman is co-founder and co-CEO of VideoShops. She is also CEO and founder of Winnaman & Associates, a Santa Monica company focused on partnerships between talent and brands.
What is the Nicole Winnaman VideoShops story?
It is the story of two founders who built a celebrity affiliate business called NOWwith, then rebuilt it as VideoShops, a social commerce platform with instant storefronts, same-day pay and more than $42 million in reported funding.
What is VideoShops?
VideoShops is a New York social commerce platform where anyone can launch a shoppable storefront, share commissionable products and get paid daily, without brand approvals, fees or inventory.
Who founded VideoShops?
Abra Potkin and Nicole Winnaman founded VideoShops and serve as co-CEOs.
What was NOWwith?
NOWwith was the founders’ earlier shoppable entertainment company, started in 2018, which created affiliate links for celebrities. VideoShops grew out of it.
How does VideoShops pay creators?
The company says commissions are paid daily through Venmo, which connects to the creator’s mobile number.
How much funding has VideoShops raised?
Reports vary. A 2021 release cited $18 million in two seed rounds, and Inc. and later releases cite $42 million in total funding.
Who invests in VideoShops?
Reported investors include Jeff Ubben, Marc Lore, Alex Rodriguez, Dick Costolo, Kevin Mayer, Shervin Pishevar, Chris Barkley and Dana Settle of Greycroft.
What commission rates does VideoShops offer?
A 2025 press release said products pay 10% to 50% sales commissions. Rates vary by brand.
Is VideoShops free to join?
The website says there are no fees and no approvals to launch a storefront. Check the help center for current terms.
Conclusion
Nicole Winnaman VideoShops shows how a dealmaker can turn a business model’s limits into a better one. After building a celebrity affiliate company that made money but could not scale, Winnaman and Potkin raised capital from well-known commerce investors and rebuilt the model around instant storefronts, a universal merchant engine and same-day pay. The open questions are how the economics work, what creators actually earn and how the funding figures add up. If those answers hold up, VideoShops may become one of the platforms that turns recommendations into income for everyone, not only celebrities.
For more founder journeys in creators and commerce, see Jen Phan’s Passionfroot, Dorsia’s Series A and Nopalera’s Series A on Denote Press, or browse all Founder Stories.
