Thrasio, which acquires Amazon D2C brands, is set to grow even more quickly in 2021
Ecommerce has boomed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and all eyes are now on those who have found innovative ways to grow–in particular, Thrasio, a Boston-based startup which acquires and manages up-and-coming direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands on Amazon.
Thrasio’s ecommerce model involves acquiring successful third party businesses and D2C commerce brands on Amazon and managing them using the company’s digital consumer goods platform. The company says it now manages nearly 14,000 products. Brands currently under its management include the Vybe Percussion deep tissue massage gun, Circadian Optics bright light therapy lamps, and skincare products from Sdara Skincare.
“Over the past two months, we’ve been acquiring $1.5 million in revenue per day. Thrasio is now closing two or three deals every week,” says Thrasio Co-founder and co-CEO Joshua Silberstein.
Through rapidly acquiring these brands, the brands achieve an average annualized growth rate of 156%. The startup’s management platform has served to propel high quality (but lesser known) products to great prominence in the ecommerce marketplace.
On February 9, Thrasio announced the close of a US$750 million round of financing, raised almost entirely from existing investors including Oaktree Capital Management and Advent International. The fresh fundraise diluted existing shareholders’ stakes by just 11.1%.
The new equity round follows on from a $500 million debt financing round the company raised in January 2021. The debt round was led by JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, BlackRock, Barclays, UBS, Credit Suisse, Oaktree, and RBC Capital Markets.
This round brings Thrasio’s total funding since inception to over $1.75 billion. With the new capital, Thrasio plans to broaden the scope of its investments and acquire larger companies, doubling down on its proven strategy.
“We have perfected both our M&A and operations models–now it’s about driving leverage from our proven flywheel and continuing to build complementary capabilities,” says Thrasio Co-founder and co-CEO Carlos Cashman. “This investment also enables us to acquire much larger ecommerce companies–up to $200 million in revenue–adding another dimension to our capabilities.”
Cashman adds that the funds are also expected to accelerate the development of Thrasio’s DTC and product launch businesses.
The company has an international team of over 700 employees and contractors and is currently expanding on a grandiose scale, hiring 30-40 people a week. It has also just expanded its European operations by opening hubs in Germany and the U.K.
Asia is also soon to be a region of opportunistic growth for Thrasio, and the company plans to expand into the region in 2021. China, in particular, provides an incredible opportunity–the country accounts for over 40% of Amazon sellers (Marketplace Pulse).
“Our expansion into China and Asia is super exciting and important for us,” says Alan Lim, Head of Thrasio China. “China holds the largest number of Amazon sellers globally, while Asia is the world’s factory. At Thrasio, we believe in the growth of Asia, and will be making significant investments into this region in the months to come.”
This article was written in partnership with Thrasio.
