150 million US dollars for Branded

The start-up buys Amazon shops and is now venturing out of the woodwork. This gives the US company Thrasio another competitor.

Berlin-based e-commerce startup Branded has raised $150 million in a funding round. Lead investor is also Branded's co-founder Ben Kaminski with his venture capital fund Target Global. Other backers include investment firms Declaration Partners, Tiger Global, Kreos Capital, Lurra Capital, Regah Ventures, Kima Ventures and Vine Ventures. Also participating are Mark Pincus, founder of gaming company Zynga, Jon Oringer, founder of stock photo agency Shutterstock, and Lazada co-founder Maximilian Bittner.

Branded was founded just last year. Branded buys Amazon stores and trims them for profit. Already more than 25 brands are part of the company's portfolio, and the startup says it's already generating $150 million in revenue. The goals are lofty: "Our global footprint, our team's experience in 'scale-ups,' our excellent access to investment capital, and our ability to build the best proprietary processes and business intelligence put us in a special position to grow the best brands exponentially," CEO Pierre Poignant said in a company statement. Poignant has already built an e-commerce platform in Asia with Lazada. In 2017, Alibaba bought the Lazada platform for $3 billion. I wonder if he can create a similarly big success with Branded.

The model for Branded is the US start-up Thrasio, which has bought up and operates more than 100 Amazon stores. Founded only in 2018, it became a unicorn last summer, meaning it is worth more than $1 billion. Thrasio reportedly generates $400 million in revenue.