Faire has completed a $170 million Series E round led by Sequoia Capital that more than doubled the valuation of the online wholesaler to $2.5 billion, as the San Francisco-based startup cashes in on pandemic shopping patterns by helping small businesses stock up on in-demand items.
Bloomberg first reported the round last week, saying the company was in talks to raise more than $100 million at a valuation of over $2 billion. Existing investors including Y Combinator, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Forerunner Ventures, Khosla Ventures and Founders Fund participated in the round and were joined by new investors DST Global, D1 Capital Partners, Norwest Venture Partners and Dragoneer. Faire has raised a total of $439 million since it was founded in 2017.
The wholesale marketplace was created by four former Square employees to help mom-and-pop stores compete against Amazon by making it easier to discover and stock new products. A key benefit is that it accepts free returns within 60 days for items that don’t sell, reducing the risk a retailer runs when buying new inventory. It also allows retailers to search for items that are environmentally friendly, handmade or not sold on Amazon.
Source: Forbes
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