Amazon store acquirers to invest over $100 million in brand acquisitions by 2022

Rainforest is a Thrasio-style e-commerce brand acquisition company headquartered in Singapore, which aims to deploy more than US$100 million to acquire e-commerce retail brands in 2022.

“Total investment will depend on fundraising, but we see enough choice of brands in the target space to deploy more than $100 million for acquisitions in 2022,” said JJ Chai, the firm’s co-founder and CEO.

So far, Rainforest has acquired 12 brands and plans to triple that this year. The company will continue to focus on the maternal and child and home categories this year. It is currently learning about investors who may help it in the next phase of growth.

It is understood that the company achieved an annual revenue milestone of $30 million in its first full year of operation. According to Chai, its revenue mainly comes from the acquisition and growth of its brand portfolio. Brands acquired by Rainforest last year include baby care retailer Easy Baby Travelers, toy storage brand Lilly's Love and home bedding seller Feel At Home.

Meanwhile, the company said its brand portfolio grew three times faster than the U.S. e-commerce market in the second half of 2021.

Rainforest , which acquires and expands Amazon marketplace sellers in Asia, launched in 2021. This year, the company’s acquisitions will not be limited to retailers selling on Amazon.

On the acquisition side, the startup is focusing on brand owners in the Asia-Pacific region for international sales. Most Amazon brands sell to consumers in North America and Europe.

The company’s head said it would focus on China this year because of the large number of cross-border sellers there. Earlier this month, the company announced the launch of its China business.

To date, the startup has raised $26.5 million in equity and $30 million in debt from investors including Monk's Hill Ventures, Nordstar and Insignia.

It is understood that acquiring top Amazon stores has become a hot business, and many acquiring companies want to expand themselves by acquiring high-quality Amazon stores, so there is a gold rush in the market. It is understood that the highest acquisition price of an Amazon store is over 10 million US dollars.

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