Faire (company)
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| Private | |
| Industry | e-commerce |
| Founded | 2017 |
| Founders | Max Rhodes, Jeff Kolovson, Marcelo Cortes, and Daniele Perito |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California , United States |
Area served | North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand |
Key people | Max Rhodes, Chief Executive Officer |
| Website | https://www.faire.com/ |
Faire is a private company headquartered in San Francisco, California and Kitchener, Ontario.[1] It develops and markets an online wholesale marketplace. It was founded in 2017 by four former Square employees.
History
The idea for Faire was conceived of by Max Rhodes.[2][3] He co-founded Faire in 2017 with three other former Square employees: Jeff Kolovson, Marcelo Cortes, and Daniele Perito[3][4] and participated in the Y Combinator incubator program.[4] As it grew, Faire had problems with excessive returns and unpaid invoices for inventory.[3] Faire then developed algorithms to flag frequently-returned products and limit how much retailers could buy before paying.[3] It grew 50% from 2018 to 2019.[3]
In 2020, the company raised $222 million in venture capital funding.[1] This was followed by a $260 million funding round in 2021 at a $7 billion valuation.[5] Later in 2021, it raised an additional $439 million, which valued the business at $12.4 billion.[4][6] Faire continued raising venture capital funding, totaling $1.5 billion in its history. However, in late 2023, it reduced its own valuation down to $5 billion.[7] In 2025, it raised additional capital at a $5.2 billion valuation.[8]
In 2021, Faire expanded to Europe and the United Kingdom.[9] Faire's staff also grew to 1,200 employees.[3] However, Faire's growth created organizational problems.[3] The company had layoffs in 2022 and 2023.[3][10] In 2023, Shopify invested in Faire and the two became referral partners that recommended the other on their respective websites.[11] Advertising options were added to the site in 2024, so that manufacturers could pay to be at the top of search results.[12] As of 2025, it is estimated to have approximately $500 million in annual revenues.[13]
Marketplace
Faire is one of the largest online marketplaces for wholesale products.[4] As of 2024, the site processes at least $2 billion in transactions per-year.[3] Faire means "to make" or "to do" in French.[4] The website recommends products based on information the retailer provides about their business.[3] Faire also provides other credit and financing services.[4] As of 2025, there are 100,000 sellers on the site.[14][15]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 McIntyre, Catherine (November 27, 2020). "Faire has a headquarters in San Francisco, but the e-commerce unicorn's heart is in Kitchener-Waterloo". The Logic. Retrieved September 5, 2025.
- ↑ Debter, Lauren (October 30, 2019). "Faire, A Wholesale Marketplace, Notches $1 Billion Valuation". Forbes. Retrieved September 5, 2025.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 Brody, Liz (September 24, 2024). "How These Founders Almost Killed Their $12 Billion Business". Entrepreneur. Retrieved September 5, 2025.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Harris, Ainsley (November 29, 2021). "How wholesale market Faire turned 'not on Amazon' into a $12 billion company". Fast Company. Retrieved September 5, 2025.
- ↑ Lee, Jane (June 11, 2021). "Online wholesale marketplace Faire raises $260 mln, valued at $7 bln". Reuters. Retrieved September 5, 2025.
- ↑ Broughton, Kristin (November 16, 2021), "Wholesale Marketplace Faire Raises $400 Million", Wall Street Journal, ISSN 0099-9660, retrieved September 5, 2025
- ↑ Gehan, Ann; Mascarenhas, Natasha (August 25, 2025). "E-Commerce Startup Faire Targets $500 Million in Revenue". The Information. Retrieved September 18, 2025.
- ↑ Lipschultz, Bailey (November 17, 2025). "Faire Begins Employee Share Sale at $5.2 Billion Value, Eyes IPO". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved December 17, 2025.
- ↑ Cheng, Candy (November 16, 2021). "4-year-old Faire is now valued at $12.4 billion. Former Instacart CFO Ravi Gupta, now a Sequoia VC, explains why". Business Insider. Retrieved September 5, 2025.
- ↑ Stone, Madeline (November 2, 2023). "Wholesale marketplace Faire, which raised $416 million 18 months ago, laid off 250 workers in a company-wide restructuring". Business Insider. Retrieved September 5, 2025.
- ↑ "Shopify invests in wholesale platform Faire". Reuters. September 27, 2023. Retrieved September 17, 2025.
- ↑ Gehan, Ann; Mascarenhas, Natasha (August 25, 2025). "E-Commerce Startup Faire Targets $500 Million in Revenue". The Information. Retrieved September 18, 2025.
- ↑ Gehan, Ann; Mascarenhas, Natasha (August 25, 2025). "E-Commerce Startup Faire Targets $500 Million in Revenue". The Information. Retrieved September 18, 2025.
- ↑ Silberstein, Nicole (July 30, 2025). "Exclusive: Faire Surpasses 100K Members as Indie Retailers Seek Out Value, Variety". Retail TouchPoints. Retrieved September 18, 2025.
- ↑ Gehan, Ann; Mascarenhas, Natasha (August 25, 2025). "E-Commerce Startup Faire Targets $500 Million in Revenue". The Information. Retrieved September 18, 2025.
External links
This article "Faire (company)" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical. Articles taken from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be accessed on Wikipedia's Draft Namespace.