Commerce has been trapped in static, homogenous experiences for over a decade, with most ecommerce websites looking identical despite rapid evolution in platforms like TikTok and ChatGPT. While US brands typically drive only 20% of revenue from email and text marketing, discovering new products online remains surprisingly difficult and unfun. Queen One changes this landscape with powerful brand technology that brings life, energy, and revenue to websites and communication portals, built on the belief that every product has a story beyond just how it’s made. The company organizes every brand, product, and SKU in history, telling hundreds of stories about the energy, intent, and utility behind every product ever made. With their first offering Connect (powered by Dragon Tiles) featuring the 50/50 club that guarantees brands 50%+ increase in communications revenue and 50% reduction in email and text costs, Queen One creates breakthrough technology that connects brands with people in more profound ways than traditional channels.
AlleyWatch sat down with Queen One CEO, Founder, and serial entrepreneur (founded Wunderkind fka Bounce X) Ryan Urban to learn more about the business, its future plans, and recent funding round.
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
We raised $5.5M+ in our Friends & Family (F&F) round. Backed by Charge VC, Inspired Capital, RedSwan Ventures, and Prospeq — all operator-led funds. People who’ve built bold before.We also brought in people who believe in us — past collaborators, entrepreneurs, and family & friends. We wanted the right energy on our cap table – what you’re building, and who you’re building it with matters.
Tell us about the product or service that Queen One offers.
Queen One has built a powerful brand technology that brings life, energy, and revenue to websites and communication portals.
We’re setting out to organize not just every brand, but every product, SKU, and good in the history of the world. For each of these trillion-plus goods, we’ll tell hundreds of stories — the story, the energy, the intent, and the utility behind every product ever made. Our first product Connect (powered by Dragon Tiles) features the 50/50 club, where we guarantee brands 50%+ increase in their communications revenue and 50%- in their email and text costs.
What inspired the start of Queen One?
Queen One is decades of vision built into purpose and mission: we set out to connect brands with people, people with brands, brands with brands, and people with people.
How is Queen One different?
At the heart of Queen One is a simple, powerful, and complete belief: every product has a story. Not just how it was made—but how it’s used, loved, and shared. In a world where products are often reduced to SKUs and data points, Queen One sees them as goods. And when goods are at their best, they vibrate. They connect. They move people. That’s where real growth happens. Good vibrations.Every Queen One experience has vibrance— from our (soon to launch) Vision Centre in Brooklyn to the breakthrough technology and people behind our platform.
What market does Queen One target and how big is it?
We’re focused on rising commerce brands — typically those doing $1M–$50M in annual online revenue. The TAM is massive. We want to go wide, and scale Queen One technology across the world.
What’s your business model?
B2B2C.
How are you preparing for a potential economic slowdown?
We’re building in ELECTRICity. We’re default alive — revenue-generating, lean, and moving fast. Every company I’ve operated has been built for efficiency, and Queen One is no different. What our team has accomplished in the last 120+ days is incredible.
We see ourselves as a beacon of growth and innovation — building infrastructure that fuels our brands, stimulates the economy, and creates jobs and momentum in New York.
Pulse forward.
What was the funding process like?
One of our core values at Queen One is “Enjoy the process.” It came up constantly during the raise — and it’s even painted on the side of 25 Kent, our headquarters.
~100 meetings, and we have 42 yeses on our cap table. Truly inspiring people. All done in under 60 days. The process was enjoyable — and fast.
Once you’ve done it before, you can do it bigger, faster, and with way more vision the next time around.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
Queen One isn’t a solution— it’s a vision for commerce, an industry that hasn’t changed in 15 years. That kind of thinking doesn’t land with everyone. But the ones who’ve built before? They saw it instantly. They know what it takes to build something that sets the trend — not follows it.
We also wanted to focus on New York investors and operators — and we’re incredibly fortunate to have landed them and to have their backing.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
A founder with a track record.
A clear, bold vision.
The best team in New York — people who’ve built together before, and want to build again.
But more than that — it’s about shared purpose. To build something extraordinary, to be a beacon. And the common ground that we have to earn that — together.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
We’ve already hit major milestones at Queen One:
Closed our first fundraise.
Built powerful brand technology platform
Released our first offering Connect (powered by Dragon Tiles)
Secured $6M in state support to create jobs and drive long-term growth.
Scaled our team from 3 to 33.
Made a commitment to build life — not just product — at our Brooklyn headquarters.
What advice can you offer companies in New York that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?Get traction. Build a winning prototype, get initial launch partners. Make sure your product and services are very valuable to your customers.Surprisingly, new founders often focus on features and excitement and buzzy things like web3, AI… and forget about driving value, such as saving people time, saving people money, making people money, increasing their velocity.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
Get ticker:HEXY
What’s your favorite summer destination in and around the city?
North Brooklyn is home — for me and for Queen One. You can’t beat the energy here. It’s always blooming, always moving. A place to connect in any season. Nothing better than walking around Greenpoint/Williamsburg and enjoying the trees, the dogs, the birds, the bees, coffee, negronis, and some of the most forward food in NY.
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