New York-based investment firm that injects credit and equity Upper90 raised a $55m equity fund focused on e-commerce businesses and aggregators to help them access growth capital.
The fund, which will provide equity capital for approximately 15 companies, will enable Upper90 to provide equity capital to help earlier-stage, capital-intensive technology businesses optimise their capital structure.
Upper90’s new fund will focus on businesses that are acting as digital franchisors by consolidating subscale brands to provide operating leverage and marketing expertise.
With e-commerce expanding at a 24% CAGR in the US, 36% in Latin America and 26% in Europe in 2020, the sector is poised for more growth, it said.
Led by former head of quantitative education sales at Goldman Sachs Billy Libby, former managing director and director of risk at Solus Alternative Asset Management Alex Urdea and co-founder and former CEO of Seamless Jason Finger, the firm has backed a slew of online marketplace businesses such as Thrasio, acquirer of Amazon FBA brands and Clearbanc, a revenue-based financing provider.
Commenting on the equity fund, Libby said, “The infrastructure developed by Amazon, Google, Facebook, Shopify, BigCommerce and others, has created a golden age for entrepreneurs that can easily start a business online. However, access to growth capital, especially flexible capital, is still scarce.
“Upper90’s ability to provide equity and debt helps startups accelerate growth with less dilution. With our eCommerce fund, we can deepen our partnership by investing at the earliest stages as well as support portfolio companies that may require equity capital as they scale.”
Sharing the sentiment and highlighting the importance of boosting e-commerce startups, Finger said, “Upper90 was the first fund to identify and execute successfully this market opportunity and our investment approach offering credit and equity, along with significant operational support and marketplace expertise, has allowed our portfolio companies to gain market share faster and much more efficiently.
“It has been very validating to see that the best and brightest entrepreneurs and seed investors appreciate the unique value proposition of Upper90 and have made us the partner of choice for both e-commerce aggregators as well as capital-intensive technology-based businesses building online brands. This new equity fund allows us to deepen our involvement in an ecosystem we helped to pioneer and provide even greater support to the companies with whom we partner. ”
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