An Apt F retailer goes wholesale shopping on the Faire platform that connects small brands with small retailers in this picture taken in Austin, U.S.,

EXCLUSIVE Online wholesale marketplace Faire raises $260 mln, valued at $7 bln

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2021-06-10 17:00:06

An Apt F retailer goes wholesale shopping on the Faire platform that connects small brands with small retailers in this picture taken in Austin, U.S., August 2019. Faire/Handout via REUTERS

Online wholesale marketplace Faire said on Thursday it raised $260 million in its latest funding round and is now valued at $7 billion, thanks to the fast growth in e-commerce following the pandemic.

Faire helps small retailers connect with small brands, helping them to compete with retail giants like Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) or Walmart Inc (WMT.N), said Faire Chief Executive and co-founder Max Rhodes. He started the company as he experienced the challenges of finding sales channels for an upscale New Zealand umbrella brand he was trying to sell in the United States.

“We were flying all over the country, going to trade shows. We were emailing back and forth with retailers. Email was kind of the height of the technological innovation for us in that business,” said Rhodes.