Twenty-five different companies acquiring Amazon sellers have now raised at least $100 million. A year ago, there was just one. Nearly $7 billion has been raised so far in 2021.
14 of the 25 aggregators are U.S.-based; the rest are from Latin America (Merama in Mexico), Asia (Nebula Brands in China), and Europe (Heroes and Olsam Group in the United Kingdom, SellerX and Razor Group in Germany, and others). A dozen more companies raised less than $100 million, and roughly 30 haven’t raised any amount yet or announced it but are active. Many of them didn’t exist twelve months ago.
| Company | Location | Capital Raised |
|---|---|---|
| Thrasio | Walpole, MA | $1.7 billion |
| Perch | Boston, MA | $908.8 million |
| Berlin Brands Group | Berlin, Germany | $540 million |
| Razor Group | Berlin, Germany | $447 million |
| Unybrands | Miami, FL | $325 million |
| Elevate Brands | New York, NY | $317.5 million |
| SellerX | Berlin, Germany | $267 million |
| Heroes | London, United Kingdom | $265 million |
| Heyday | San Francisco, CA | $245 million |
| factory14 | Luxembourg | $200 million |
| Growve | St. Petersburg, FL | $175 million |
| Olsam Group | London, United Kingdom | $165 million |
| Merama | Mexico City, Mexico | $160 million |
| Acquco | New York, NY | $160 million |
| Moonshot Brands | Oakland, CA | $160 million |
| Cap Hill Brands | Seattle, WA | $150 million |
| Branded | Paris, France | $150 million |
| Global Bees | New Delhi, India | $150 million |
| Suma Brands | Minneapolis, MN | $150 million |
| Boosted Commerce | Los Angeles, CA | $137 million |
| D1 Brands | New York, NY | $123 million |
| Intrinsic | New York, NY | $115 million |
| Nebula Brands | Beijing, China | $106 million |
| The Stryze Group | Berlin, Germany | $100 million |
| Foundry | Austin, TX | $100 million |
| Mensa Brands | Bangalore, India | $83 million |
| Valoreo | Mexico City, Mexico | $80 million |
| Benitago Group | New York, NY | $55 million |
| Dwarfs | Amsterdam, The Netherlands | $45 million |
| UpScalio | Gurgaon, India | $42.5 million |
| Una Brands | Singapore | $40 million |
| 10club | Bangalore, India | $40 million |
| Rainforest | Singapore | $36 million |
| G.O.A.T Brand Labs | Bangalore, India | $36 million |
| TCM Digital | Herzliya, Israel | $28 million |
| Forum Brands | New York, NY | $27 million |
| Opontia | Dubai, UAE | $20 million |
| Wonder Brands | Mexico City, Mexico | $20 million |
At this time last year - in September 2020 - only Thrasio had raised over $100 million, and the only other two companies to have raised capital - Perch and Razor Group - have only done their seed rounds. The year finished with $1 billion committed.
Six out of the eight months so far in 2021, the aggregators raised at least $500 million. Since the industry kicked off in April 2020, they attracted a total of $8 billion. Practically all of which came in 2021 by 38 different companies. Interestingly, some aggregators have now also started to invest in others, often in different geographical regions.
The industry is maturing beyond capital raised. What a couple of years ago was a relatively basic process, and a quiet market has now grown in sophistication. It is still early days, however. For one, the pitch decks aggregators use and the language they employ to describe themselves lack differentiation.
Still, as demand for acquisitions and the number of potential buyers (which are not limited to aggregators but also includes private equity firms and other investors) increased, it had second-order effects. The way businesses are valued, packaged, and pitched to investors and the role of investment bankers and brokers improved. The deal structures like equity offered expanded. Aggregators from all over the world started buying businesses also from all over the world. Technology and supply chain operations of the aggregators also saw significant investment.
Finally, the model of aggregation is growing beyond Amazon. Not only are some companies looking for sellers on other marketplaces, especially internationally, but they are also evaluating direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands that sell on their owned websites.
If the trend continues, aggregators will raise an estimated $10 billion in 2021 - most of that through debt that will fuel acquisitions. None have failed publicly yet, none have tried to consolidate, and none did an IPO to go public. All of those will happen.
