Why ecommerce roll-up players are on a roll

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Hello readers,

Roll-ups are hot this year. And no, I’m not referring to the song by Wiz Khalifa or a pilates move. I’m talking about the ecommerce roll-up industry.

Here’s a brief summary of what ecommerce roll-up companies do: They buy up smaller businesses that offer similar goods and services and then bring them all under one umbrella. Doing so allows such firms to pool together fragmented market resources, infrastructure, sales, marketing, and workforces.

Globally, roll-up companies have raised at least US$7 billion this year so far, according to Marketplace Pulse. While the US and Europe remain dominant in the space, Asian aggregators are also catching up, so let’s take a look at the players in the field.

Today we look at,

• The big business of ecommerce roll-ups
• A Singapore-based no-code platform for robots
• Other newsy highlights such as Sea invests in Mexico’s Kavak and GCash eyes BNPL launch

PREMIUM SUMMARY

Who’s rolling up to be the biggest player in the ecommerce roll-up scene?

Ecommerce roll-up firms are the new batch of crazy rich kids this year. In March, Branded Group, an ecommerce aggregator by former Lazada CEO Pierre Poignant, raised US$150 million in a single round. Since then, other similar startups in Southeast Asia have also raised significant funding.

• Introducing… Rainforest, Una Brands, and Hypefast. These regional roll-up firms are betting on local knowledge to compete with the bigger and richer US-based aggregators by focusing on buying Asian brands that Western firms might not know about yet.
• The Middle Kingdom: Global roll-up giants including Thrasio and Berlin Brands Group, which raised US$1.7 billion and US$940 million, respectively, are betting big on China. That’s not surprising since 38% of Amazon’s top sellers are currently based in the country.

Read more: Mapping the global boom of ecommerce roll-up firms

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