Society Brands, an Amazon aggregator based in Canton, Ohio, has raised $204 million in debt and equity during its first institutional capital raise.
The funding round led by New York City investment firm i80 Group positions Society Brands to grow its brand portfolio to more than $1 billion in revenue in the next few years, the aggregator said in a statement on Wednesday.
Amazon aggregators acquire Amazon brands and consolidate them under one roof. Amazon brands are companies for which the internet-based retailer warehouses products and fulfills orders through its vast distribution network.
Launched in October 2020, Society Brands plans to use its new capital to acquire e-commerce consumer product brands with a heavy concentration on Amazon, the aggregator said. The company will also plans to hire additional talent, expand its operating platform and build proprietary technology to find companies to acquire, it said.
The aggregator space saw strong investor interest last year as online buying exploded during the pandemic, reported Crunchbase News. Several aggregators secured rounds of more than $100 million last year, Crunchbase News reported.
Investors rely on aggregators to optimize their brands’ channel and sales opportunities while providing them retail and product development expertise, Crunchbase said.
While brands can benefit from having a financial exit, Society Brands encourages its founders to stay onboard after their brands are acquired, the aggregator said.
These founders can join "the society" as brand presidents and access shared resources that can help scale their businesses, it said.
Society Brands is one of the first Amazon aggregators to encourage founders to stay after acquiring their brands, said Asher Hochberg, group managing director of i80, in Society Brands' statement.
The aggregator's sizable capital raise validates its approach to building value, said Michael Sirpilla, CEO of Society Brands, in his company's statement.
Society Brands' executive team has sold more than $2 billion in e-commerce channels and participated in billion-dollar M&A consolidations in two industries.
The company's directors include Johnny Sirpilla, who sold his family's Canton, Ohio-based Sirpilla RV Center into the industry's first RV rollup in 2003 and James Gilbert, the Los Angeles-based serial entrepreneur who cofounded the Crypto Co., Spring.me and LivingSocial Australia.
Court Coursey, an advisor for the company, is managing partner for TomorrowVentures LLC, the hybrid venture capital firm in Palo Alto, California.
"We truly have a unique strategy and a great capital provider who shares our vision," Michael Sirpilla said.
