Marketplaces and Marketplace Enablers Dealmaking Report_ M&A and Funding Trends Nov 2023

Marketplaces and Marketplace Enablers: M&A and Funding Trends – November 2023

ComCap works with online and offline retailers, retail software providers, payments companies and professional services companies that focus on the digital retail ecosystem. We are pleased to present our views on the marketplaces and marketplace enabler landscapes, doing so with an aim of enhancing transparency and communication between the market players, as well as financial and strategic investors. We see the companies in this report as disruptors in the space, focusing on software and technologies that provide improved customer experiences and develop sustainable relationship.

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Key trends:

Market tailwinds and trends

  • The global online Marketplaces space is estimated to reach $8.8TN by 2025, witnessing a CAGR of 20% during 2020-25, mainly driven by rising customer engagement, mCommerce, and frictionless payment methods
  • B2B Marketplaces are thriving post-COVID; spending is estimated to see a 10% CAGR during 2021-27, to reach $3TN by 20271
  • Enterprise Marketplaces, an online Marketplaces operated by traditional retailers, allowing third-party vendors to sell directly to their end-customers, have gained popularity in the past few years, with key retailers (like Walmart and Macy’s) already embracing this model
  • Marketplaces are leveraging AI & ML and AR & VR to improve customer experience, drive higher conversion, and lower product returns
  • Live streaming commerce is making further inroads with several Marketplaces already adopting it to enhance their customer reach
  • Blockchain-based decentralized Marketplaces have the potential to increase efficiency in the way goods and services are exchanged by enhancing security and transparency of the transaction

Key disruptors

  • Major players who raised large fundings within the marketplace space since 2022 include: Lendvest ($885MM, 2 rounds), Back Market ($511MM, 1 round), Avant ($500MM, 2 rounds), EquipmentShare.com ($440MM, 1 round), GoStudent ($436MM, 2 rounds), Weee! ($425.6MM, 1 round), Ankorstore ($284MM, 1 round), and Lendable ($276MM, 1 round)

M&A 

  • After several landmark M&A deals in 2022, the deal activity was relatively subdued in 2023. The space saw 28 M&A deals since 2022 with deals size above $10MM
  • Other notable deals include, FatFace ($139.8MM), TCGplayer ($295.0MM), and Autorama ($265.0MM)

Private placements

  • PP funding activity declined gradually through 2022 with 108 deals aggregating ~$8.9BN in disclosed values over $10MM
  • After a slowdown through 2022, number of deals and deal values have stabilized in 2023. Total number of deals decreased by ~55% y/y from Jan-Oct’23 with 46 deals as compared to 102 during Jan-Oct’22
  • Some of the active US investors in the sector since 2022 include, Andreessen Horowitz, SoftBank, Tiger Global, Y Combinator, and Sequoia Capital
  • Notable investors in the Europe’s Marketplaces space include, Aglaé Ventures, Index Ventures, SoftBank, and Eurazeo

Public comparables

  • Horizontal Marketplaces from the US enjoy higher median revenue multiples (1.0x CY24E) as compared to their ROW peers (0.8x CY24E). Whereas the ROW Marketplaces are valued more richly on median EBITDA multiples (14.0x CY24E) vs. (12.8x CY24E). Within verticals, fintech marketplaces enjoy highest median revenue multiples of 4.2x (CY24E.)

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