It was already valued at more than $12 billion. It was just named Fast Company’s Most Innovative Retail Company. Now, Faire has announced another massive raise worth $416 million.
Coming as an extension to their Series G round, a $400 million raise that closed last November, the new funding brings the company’s current valuation to $12.59 billion.
Faire operates an online wholesale marketplace that uses machine learning to connect independent retails and suppliers. Founded with offices in Waterloo and San Francisco, the company has raised more than $1.4 billion over the last five years. Their growth accelerated during the pandemic as they pivoted to help independent retailers source personal protective equipment, hand sanitizer and more.
“We will use this additional funding to invest in product development and build a world-class team,” the company said in a brief statement. “We look forward to continuing to expand our global marketplace to support our growing network of independent brands and retailers throughout North America, Europe and Australia.”
First available in North America, the Faire platform became available to retailers in 15 European markets one year ago and expanded to Australia just last month. In total, the company supports 450,000 retailers and 70,000 brands around the world.
Faire continues to base its engineering team in Waterloo – where CTO Marcelo Cortes is located – but now has additional teams in Toronto and São Paulo, as well as a fully remote team.
Just one week ago, the company announced that it was Fast Company’s Most Innovative Retail Company for 2022 and #26 on the Fast Company list of the World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies. The Fast Company article specifically calls out Faire’s effectiveness in helping small retailers compete with Amazon and major chains, while also providing a platform for new brands to grow. It’s a “tech for good” story for the ages.
Faire is one of four tech unicorns – companies with a $1+ billion valuation – located in Waterloo. The others are Arctic Wolf, ApplyBoard and eSentire.