Congratulations to StandUp Ventures portfolio company Max Retail on their $15M USD Series A led by Nosara Capital after an exceptional year of growth! Oh how I love optimization problems, and especially ones that support entrepreneurs 😭 Independent retail shops sit on an average of 22% excess inventory at any given time, representing ~$50K-$200K of financial losses each year. For small businesses that are often the pillars of their communities (& frequently women-owned!), these losses are HUGELY impactful. Before Max Retail, options to recuperate them were extremely limited (discounting items far below cost, sending to consignment, or donating for a tax write-off). Alone, a single store in a small town with one or two sizes of a SKU isn't meaningful enough to engage with for zero inventory marketplaces or online retailers, but in aggregate, Max Retail's network of 2,000+ retailers and real-time data acts seamlessly as a single source of new and often hard-to-find supply. Bringing these items online exponentially increases the pool of potential buyers, resulting in immediate cash relief and payouts 4-8x higher than the status quo of liquidation. And the proof is in the pudding. 89% of active sellers are selling inventory every single month, with some sellers making upwards of $250k per year. GMV has exploded 4x YoY, with an incredible 40% of new retailer leads coming from existing customers. The macro omnichannel opportunity for real-time, SKU-level, inventory, pricing, and sales data across the normally siloed brick-and-mortar independent retail market is limitless. Alongside AI-powered pricing and item allocation engines, Max Retail is able to pay sellers the maximum value possible for excess inventory, and help retailers understand live inventory performance and market value of every item they list. This ultimately underpins a foundation for a more efficient and productive market, getting the right products to the right buyers at the right time, place and price. We're so excited to continue supporting the INCREDIBLE Melodie van der Baan alongside the wonderful M13, The Artemis Fund , and Rethink Impact, LP. Onwards and upwards! 🚀 #fundingnews #seriesa #retaildata
"Independent retail shops are core pillars of their communities but face limited options for their excess inventory other than discounting far below cost, sending to consignment, or donating for a tax write-off," said Melodie van der Baan, CEO & co-founder of Max Retail and former independent retailer. "With this investment, we will continue to grow our sales channel network and expand this excess inventory solution to support the full product lifecycle, giving independent retailers and brands the tools they need to increase their inventory turns and maximize cash recuperation on unsold goods."
Ilya Brotzky
6mo
That’s awesome! They need help hiring engineers?
Co-founder & CEO at Max Retail
6moI can’t say enough good things about the team at StandUp Ventures. You are a significant part of this growth!