The retail technology year in review: May 2021
Including mega funding rounds, changing times in China, a surge in demand for online deliveries, the rise and rise of Shein, and Amazon’s adventures in the UK.
Good month for…
Wayflyer, a revenue-based financing platform for e-commerce merchants, announced a $76 million Series A fundraise led by Left Lane Capital.
Chinese e-commerce group Pinduoduo surpassed 800 million users for the first time.
Revenue for the first quarter rose 239% to 22.2 billion yuan ($3.4 billion) in the three months ended March.
The number of annual active buyers for the 12 months ended March increased to 823.8 million, making Pinduoduo the most widely used e-commerce platform in China.
E-commerce fraud prevention venture, Forter, raised $300 million in Series F funding led by Tiger Global Management, with participation from Third Point Ventures and Adage Capital Management.
Profits at Royal Mail soared as the coronavirus pandemic drove a surge in demand for online deliveries.
Pretax profits jumped to £726 million in the 12 months to the end of March, up from £180 million the previous year. Adjusted operating profit, meanwhile, rose to £702 from £325 million.
Fast fashion e-commerce venture Shein moved past Amazon to become the most downloaded shopping app on iOS and Android in the US, according to data from App Annie.
The China-based startup, which is reportedly valued at more than $15 billion, mainly focuses on women's wear, although it also offers men's apparel, children's clothes, accessories, shoes, bags and other fashion items.
Back Market, an online marketplace dedicated to refurbished electronics, announced a Series D round of £237 million led by General Atlantic.
Merchant commerce platform Pine Labs announced the first close of a $285 million funding round, pushing its valuation to $3 billion.
Funding for retail technology tripled to $28.9 billion in the first quarter of 2021 from the same period last year, according to research by CB Insights.
This was its fastest run rate in five years as retailers prepared for a post-pandemic world.
Online premium fashion platform, Lyst, announced an $85 million fundraising backed by the likes of Fidelity International and C4 Ventures.
The valuation at which Lyst raised the money was unclear, but sources told Sky News it would be positioned as a pre-IPO round, with public flotation possibly taking place in the next year.
PayTech big hitter Curve laid claim to the largest ever equity raise on Crowdcube, hitting nearly £10 million in funding from 11,795 investors.
Secret Sales said that over 700 individual brands across 120 fashion retailers and designer houses had gone live with the venture in its first 12 months of trading.
Many of these, it added, had appointed the e-commerce marketplace as their sole or primary clearance channel in the UK.
Acquco, a platform focused on acquiring third-party sellers on Amazon, closed a $160 million Series A round.
Shipping software platform provider parcelLab secured $112 million in Series C funding led by Insight Partners.
Also this month…
Spanish q-commerce startup Glovo reached an agreement with online food delivery venture Delivery Hero to acquire some of its companies in Central and Eastern Europe.
Online furniture retailer Made.com announced its intention to float on the London Stock Exchange.
There had been rumours about the pureplay, which was co-founded by entrepreneur Brent Hoberman, making the move since February, but it had thus far declined to press the button.
An IPO would see some existing investors sell shares but also raise new money, and had the potential to value the business at anything up to £1 billion.
Amazon UK said it would create more than 10,000 new permanent jobs in 2021, taking its total UK workforce to 55,000+ people by the end of year.
This included roles at its corporate offices, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and operations network, with the online retail giant opening new fulfilment centres in Hinckley, Dartford, Gateshead and Swindon this year, and a parcel receive centre in Doncaster.
Amazon also opened an Amazon Fresh location in Canary Wharf, London.
It was the fourth such convenience store to feature Just Walk Out Shopping tech in the UK, which was pioneered at the Amazon Go offering in the States.
Walmart announced plans to acquire Zeekit, a virtual fitting room startup based in Israel.
