Less than two years after launching operations in Waterloo Region and San Francisco, Faire (formerly Indigo Fair) has raised US$100 million to fuel its explosive growth in the retail-tech market.
The company announced Thursday that it has raised a US$40-million Series B and US$60-million Series C round, led respectively by Lightspeed Venture Partners and YC Growth, with participation from new investors DST and Founders Fund, and existing investors Sequoia Capital, Forerunner Ventures and Khosla Ventures. The new funding brings total investment in Faire to US$115.9 million since the company’s spring 2017 debut.
The new investment reflects the hyper growth seen at Faire, whose AI-powered platform helps local retailers find and buy unique inventory items that are most likely to sell. This reduces retailers’ inventory risk and the likelihood of returns. Faire also connects makers of artisanal items to interested local retailers.
Over the past year, Faire saw its active retailer count soar by 3,140 per cent, to 15,000 stores across the United States ordering from its platform. That’s more retail locations than Walmart, Sephora and Nordstrom combined, the company said.
On the maker side, the company grew its community to almost 2,000 makers, a 445 per cent increase over the previous year. Faire retailers have found that inventory items made locally sell 20 per cent better than other goods.
The company, whose employee count has grown from eight to 61 in 2018, is headquartered in San Francisco with engineering operations based in Waterloo Region. Its local team has more than doubled in 2018 and will continue to grow quickly with the new funding in place.
Faire was co-founded by Max Rhodes, Daniele Perito and Marcelo Cortes, three alumni of Square, the Jack Dorsey-founded mobile-payment company. Rhodes and Perito were based in California while Cortes, formerly of Google’s Waterloo Region office, joined Square when it set up an office here in 2013.
After working together on the popular Square Cash product, the three decided to start what they initially called Indigo Fair and applied, last-minute, to Y Combinator’s Winter 2017 cohort. They were accepted and have since been named one of the famed Silicon Valley accelerator’s top companies.
