Wholesale Marketplace Faire Raises $400 Million

The capital raise, which closed Monday, provides Faire with funds to accelerate its international expansion and invest in its platform, Chief Financial Officer

Lauren Cooks Levitan

said. The company launched its platform in Europe earlier this year and plans to focus on accelerating its growth in the region, Ms. Cooks Levitan said. “This new capital is earmarked to primarily hire top talent—continue hiring top talent—to significantly grow our teams,” she said.

Retailers that use Faire’s marketplace have 60 days to pay for their orders. The company says it is able to afford this because it uses data science to predict which items will sell.

Faire employs about 700 people and expects to double its workforce by 2022, with a focus of adding employees in Europe. The company expects to end this year with 20 people in its accounting and finance function and plans to hire roughly another 20 people next year. The additional staff will help to build out capabilities including tax, payroll, finance and procurement, Ms. Cooks Levitan said.

Faire generates the bulk of its revenue by charging commissions on transactions made on its platform. The company said it typically takes a 25% commission on orders made by new customers, 15% on repeat orders, and no commission on orders from retailers with whom wholesalers did business before using Faire’s marketplace.

Over the past year, Faire has sold over 125 million products via its platform. The company declined to provide details about its financial performance.

Asked whether the company is considering a public listing, Ms. Cooks Levitan said not in the near term, but possibly later.

“Our focus is entirely on empowering our customers to build successful wholesale and retail businesses,” Ms. Cooks Levitan said. “If the best way for us to continue doing that includes an IPO, we would certainly consider that.”

Faire’s latest funding round included Durable Capital Partners LP, a first-time investor in the company, along with existing investors D1 Capital Partners and Dragoneer Investment Group.

Anouk Dey, a partner at Durable Capital, said she expects Faire to go public at some point, but meanwhile the company remains focused on building its business.

Faire’s previous two rounds, in June 2021 and October 2020, included investors such as Sequoia Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners.

“An IPO is just a step in the journey,” Ms. Dey said. She declined to say how much Durable Capital has invested in Faire.

Write to Kristin Broughton at [email protected]