NEW YORK, April 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Upper90, the
leading provider of growth credit designed to help founders solve
their most-pressing capital needs while maintaining maximum
ownership in their respective companies, today announced it
has raised a $55 million equity
fund dedicated to eCommerce businesses. The new fund will primarily
focus on eCommerce aggregators and enables Upper90 to provide
equity capital to help earlier-stage, capital-intensive technology
businesses optimize their capital structure for long-term
success.
Led by CEO Billy Libby, former
Head of Quantitative Execution Sales at Goldman Sachs, CIO Alex
Urdea, former Managing Director and Director of Risk at Solus
Alternative Asset Management, and Chairman Jason Finger, co-founder and former CEO of
Seamless (NYSE: GRUB), the firm has backed pioneering online
marketplace businesses like Thrasio, the largest acquirer of Amazon
FBA brands globally, and Clearbanc, a leading provider of revenue
based financing. In addition, Upper90 has become the preferred
hybrid capital partner for innovative eCommerce aggregators
globally.
Upper90's new fund will invest equity in approximately 15
eCommerce companies with an emphasis on businesses that are acting
as digital franchisors by consolidating subscable brands to provide
operating leverage and marketing expertise. While eCommerce is
expanding at a 24% CAGR in the US, there is also global growth
opportunity with geographies like Latin
America growing by 36% in 2020 and European growth of
26% in 2020. The success of Amazon's third party seller model is
primed and is being replicated on other platforms, while platforms
like Shopify and BigCommerce are enabling businesses to expand a
digital footprint.
"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," said Billy Libby,
co-founder and CEO of Upper90. "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."
"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,"
said Jason Finger, co-founder and
Chairman of Upper90. "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 eCommerce 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. We are excited to help build the online
brands of tomorrow."
About Upper90
Upper90 is a hybrid investment firm
that provides founder-friendly credit and equity, along with
strategic support, to top disruptors in e-commerce, enterprise, and
fintech. The firm is backed by over 300 business builders and has
provided over $1.5Bn of capital to
market-leading businesses like Thrasio, Clearbanc, Crusoe Energy,
and Octane Lending, which all secured their first credit facilities
and early investments from Upper90.
Contact: Cari Sommer,
cari@raisecg.com
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SOURCE Upper90