Rainforest CEO JJ Chai (centre)
Rainforest, a Singapore-headquartered e-commerce brand aggregator, has bagged an oversubscribed US$20 million pre-Series A round led by Monk’s Hill Ventures.
Other investors that have participated in the round are January Capital, Crossbeam Venture Partners, Amasia, Lo & Behold Group. Existing backers Insignia Ventures and Nordstar also joined.
According to co-founder and JJ Chai, Rainforest will use the money to double down on its growth strategy to acquire more e-commerce brands in Asia Pacific, including China, Southeast Asia and Australia.
Also Read: Former Carousell, OVO execs launch e-commerce brand aggregator Rainforest with US$36M seed funding
A portion of the capital will be used to hire new employees in the acquisition, branding and marketing, product development, supply chain, operations, and strategy.
Rainforest was launched in January 2021. In May, it secured US$36 million in seed funding, led by Nordstar, with participation from Insignia. The round also included a US$30 million debt facility from an undisclosed US-based debt fund.
The company acquires consumer e-commerce brands, providing entrepreneurs with a healthy exit. It also invests in the acquired brands to grow them globally. It leverages its proprietary technology to improve inventory management, cost optimisations, and expansions to new marketplaces and channels for these brands — mainly in home goods, mother & kids, personal care, and pet categories.
Rainforest has used the previous financing to buy out six e-commerce brands on Amazon marketplaces. Its claims its portfolio has seen over 50 per cent improvement in annual growth rates post-acquisition. Recently, it acquired a China-based brand for US$3.6 million as part of its latest initiative to expand into the Chinese market.
The company now aims to triple its portfolio by the end-2021 and expand across the European and American markets.
“As one of the largest Amazon sellers in Southeast Asia, Rainforest is tapping into the rise of marketplace sellers off the back of a large, fast-growing e-commerce market,” stated Peng T. Ong, co-founder and managing partner at Monk’s Hill. “JJ and his team have demonstrated thoughtfulness while being formidable operators in acquiring and significantly growing e-commerce brands.”
Additionally, Rainforest recently hired two VPs — Yev Ivanko and Christine Ng. Each brings with them over 15 years of experience in international expansion and business development.
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According to Marketplace Pulse, third-party sellers on the Amazon marketplace sold US$300 billion worth of goods in 2020, adding a staggering US$100 billion net growth since 2019. Of which, 30 per cent are based in Asia, Chai told TechCrunch.
A recent Asian Development Bank report says B2C platforms revenues reached US$3.8 trillion in 2019, with US$1.8 trillion of it in Asia. E-commerce accounted for over half of these revenues (more than US$1.9 trillion globally), of which $1.1 trillion was generated in Asia.
In May this year, Una Brands, another Singapore-based e-commerce brand aggregator, announced a US$40 million seed round of equity and debt financing. Una was co-founded by Kiren Tanna, the former CEO of Rocket Internet Asia and founder of foodpanda and ZEN Rooms.
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Image credit: Rainforest
The post Rainforest banks US$20M pre-Series A in a Monk’s Hill-led round to acquire new e-commerce brands in Asia appeared first on e27.