TechCrunch, "VCs back wholesale marketplace Faire with $100M at a $535M valuation"
Summary
Wholesale marketplace Faire, formerly Indigo Fair, announced a $100 million fundraise across two rounds, a $40 million Series B led by Alex Taussig at Lightspeed and a $60 million Series C led by Y Combinator's Continuity fund, Kate Clark reported for TechCrunch. The financing values Faire at $535 million, according to a source familiar with the deal; Founders Fund and DST Global joined as new investors, and the business had previously raised $16 million. Faire said it had 15,000 retailers actively purchasing, a 3,140 percent year-over-year increase, and $100 million in run rate sales. The San Francisco company was founded by three former Square employees: chief executive officer Max Rhodes, chief data officer Daniele Perito and chief technology officer Marcelo Cortes. The article also reports that Minted raised $208 million led by Permira and plans to expand its wholesale business.
Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used
Full text
VCs back wholesale marketplace Faire with $100M at a $535M valuation A slew of venture capitalists known for high-profile exits — Kirsten Green of Forerunner Ventures, Keith Rabois of Khosla Ventures, Alfred Lin of Sequoia Capital and Alex Taussig of Lightspeed Venture Partners — have invested in Faire (formerly known as Indigo Fair), a 2-year-old wholesale marketplace for artisanal products. A quick glance at Faire suggests it’s a combination of Pinterest and Etsy, complete with trendy, pastel stationery, soap, baby products and more, all made by independent artisans and sold to retailers. Faire has today announced a $100 million fundraise across two financing rounds: a $40 million Series B led by Taussig at Lightspeed and a $60 million Series C led by Y Combinator’s Continuity fund. New investors Founders Fund, the venture firm founded by Peter Thiel, and DST Global also participated. The business has previously brought in a total of $16 million. The latest financing values Faire at $535 million, according to a source familiar with the deal. If you’re feeling a little bit of déjà vu, that’s because a similar startup also raised a sizeable round of venture capital funding, announced today. That’s Minted. The 10-year-old company, best known for its wide assortment of wedding invitations and stationery, raised $208 million led by Permira, with participation from T. Rowe Price. Though Minted is first and foremost a consumer-facing marketplace, it plans to double down on its wholesale business with its latest infusion of capital, setting it up to be among Faire’s biggest competitors. Like Minted, Faire leverages artificial intelligence and predictive analytics to forecast which products will fly off its virtual shelves in order to to source and manage inventory as efficiently as possible. The approach appears to be working; Faire says it has 15,000 retailers actively purchasing from its platform — a 3,140 percent year-over-year increase. It’s garnered $100 million in run rate sales and has expanded its community of artists 445 percent YoY, to 2,000. The company, headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in Ontario and Waterloo, was founded by three former Square employees: chief executive officer Max Rhodes, who was product manager on a variety of strategic initiatives, including Square Capital and Square Cash; chief data officer Daniele Perito, who led risk and security for Square Cash; and chief technology officer Marcelo Cortes, a former engineering lead for Square Cash. “Our mission at Faire is to empower entrepreneurs to chase their dreams,” Rhodes wrote in a blog post this morning. “We believe entrepreneurship is a calling. Starting a business provides a level of autonomy and fulfillment that’s become difficult to find for many elsewhere in the economy. With this in mind, we built Faire to help entrepreneurs on both sides of our marketplace succeed.” Minted lands $208M Series E from Permira and T. Rowe Price Topics alfred lin , baby products , DST Global , Etsy , forerunner ventures , Founders Fund , Keith Rabois , Khosla Ventures , kirsten green , lightspeed venture partners , minted , nordstrom , Permira , Peter Thiel , Pinterest , sephora , Sequoia Capital , Square Capital , Startups , Venture , Walgreens , Walmart , Y Combinator When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission . This doesn’t affect our editorial independence. Kate Clark Writer Kate Clark was a reporter at TechCrunch covering venture capital and startups. View Bio
File and source
- File
- WB101.html
- Size
- 239,390 bytes
- SHA-256
- b650c2f82abc129f3a55bb7e7a86c43ea92716097d9b92050521e7adf6c120bd
- Our copy
- WB101.html
- Original
- techcrunch.com