The idea of combining smaller e-commerce companies, operations that primarily sell and distribute their products on marketplace platforms like Amazon’s, and using economies of scale to bring them together to run and grow them more efficiently has seen a proliferation of start-ups emerge over the past year.
One of the most recent of them, Branded Group, is currently emerging from stealth with a sizable amount of investment. Since discreetly starting operations in mid-2020, the company claims to have raised $150 million and has already purchased 20 businesses in industries including home, leisure, and lifestyle across Europe, the US, and Asia.
The idea is that while the companies it acquires will continue to be sold and distributed via Amazon’s B2B service Fulfilled by Amazon, Branded will help with things like marketing, financing, operations expertise and technology to manage the business, provide business analytics and intelligence and so on.
The funding is being led by Target Global, described as a “co-founder” of the start-up, alongside the other two co-founders, Pierre Poignant and Michael Ronen.
Additional investors in the round include Tiger Global, Declaration Partners, Lurra Capital, Kreos Capital, Regah Ventures, Vine Ventures, and Kima Ventures. Mark Pincus, the founder of Zynga, Jon Oringer, the co-founder of Shutterstock, and Maximilian Bittner, the co-founder of Lazada, also made individual investments.
We have asked Branded why it won’t reveal the identities of the 20 businesses it has purchased. However, it boasts that some of the leading businesses offering home, leisure, and lifestyle goods on Amazon are among them.
They produce $150 million in gross income yearly, according to Branded. And Branded claims that its vendors have gathered a staggering 700,000 reviews in a market where ratings are one of the primary factors in persuading customers to buy one similar-looking product over another.
Because the market for corporations creating roll-up outfits to combine smaller e-commerce enterprises is quickly becoming congested, Branded may not be discussing specific names in its stable to maintain some competitive strategic edge.
The next-generation multi-brand platform will be developed using our experience in e-commerce and business development, according to Mr Poignant. “When it comes to operations, marketing, business development, and supply chain knowledge, our team will be unrivalled, making us the go-to partner for entrepreneurs worldwide looking to build their consumer brands and satisfy customers on Amazon and elsewhere. We are in a unique position to rapidly expand the finest brands out there thanks to our extensive worldwide presence, our team’s expertise in scale-up growth, our fast access to funding, and the proprietary analytical tools and business intelligence capabilities we are developing.” According to Mr Ronen, “there are millions of third-party merchants globally in the Amazon marketplace because of Amazon’s great investment in global logistics and technology.” “We have a once-in-a-generation chance to transform Branded into a consumer product goods (CPG) focused digital e-commerce platform by selecting the top performers from the $300 billion in annual sales generated by companies currently prospering on Amazon’s marketplace. We will want to collaborate with and help the most prosperous entrepreneurs of high-potential brands expand their businesses internationally.”
