• General
  • September 20, 2020
  • 5 minutes read

Rascoff, Others Back Boosted Commerce

  Spencer Rascoff, Co-Founder, Zillow. Photo credit: Kevin Moloney/Fortune, licensed under Creative Commons Boosted Commerce, a Los Angeles-based e-commerce upstart,…

 

Spencer Rascoff, Co-Founder, Zillow.

Photo credit: Kevin Moloney/Fortune, licensed under Creative Commons


Boosted Commerce, a Los Angeles-based e-commerce upstart, has announced that it’s secured $87 million in funding from a group of investors that include Spencer Rascoff, the co-founder and former chief executive of real estate marketplace Zillow; Elie Seidman, a former CEO of Tinder; Marc Mezvinsky, a managing director at private equity firm TPG; and Tucker Kain, the President of baseball franchise Los Angeles Dodgers. Boosted Commerce, which acquires and builds Amazon FBA (fulfillment) businesses, has already acquired six of such businesses with the new funding and has a grand plan to acquire and develop 100 Amazon FBA businesses over the next four years. The new funding is Boosted’s first known ever and saw participation from venture capital firms Torch Capital and Crosscut Ventures in addition to eight individual investors.

Boosted Commerce was notably co-founded by Charlie Chanaratsopon, an entrepreneur who previously founded and ran Charming Charlie, an accessories chain that sold hundreds of millions of dollars worth of products before falling into hard times and entering into bankruptcy. At its peak, Charming Charlie had 5,000 employees, 350 stores globally, and $500 million in annual sales. Apparently, Chanaratsopon is looking to prove himself again, this time in the e-commerce sector after previously hitting hard times in the brick-and-mortar space. With him at the top, it’s no surprise that Boosted’s fundraising drew a group of well-known investors, given his history and presumably deep connections in the retail industry. 

Currently, Chanaratsopon also serves on the boards of food delivery company Grubhub and social networking company The Meet Group. Building Boosted Commerce along with him are executives Anton von Rueden, a previous Managing Director of eBay Germany, and Adam Epstein, a veteran of private equity firm Lion Capital. “The founders of Boosted Commerce are world class entrepreneurs and operators. Their bold vision of acquiring and accelerating successful online businesses is a huge opportunity,” Spencer Rascoff said in a press statement.

Boosted Commerce already has a bigger counterpart in its market by the name of Thrasio, an Amazon FBA business operator backed by roughly $400 million in funding. Thrasio was founded only two years ago but has nevertheless scaled to $300 million in revenue and a valuation of over $1 billion by investors within a relatively short period. The company currently owns more than 60 Amazon FBA brands and with over 300 employees to manage them. Boosted Commerce is new to the game and may just be looking towards major success like Thrasio.



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