Cart.com, an Austin-based company providing end-to-end e-commerce services, entered unicorn territory following a $60 million Series C round of funding to push its valuation to $1.2 billion.
The company was founded in November 2020 by CEO Omair Tariq, who was previously an executive at Home Depot and COO of Blinds.com, and Jim Jacobson, former CEO of RTIC Outdoors. It provides commerce and logistics enablement technology and has nearly 6,000 brands on its platform.
Cart.com said the valuation was nearly 50% higher with this round than its Series B extension funding raised in February 2022. Participating in the round were B. Riley Venture Capital, Kingfisher Investment Advisors, Snowflake Ventures, Prosperity7 Ventures, Legacy Knight and a group of other investors.
Though revenue in the global e-commerce market is forecasted to reach $3.65 trillion this year, the sector has had its share of ups-and-downs. Most shopping during the pandemic moved online, but once restrictions eased, consumers also eased back to in-person shopping trips. This not only halted some online growth, but the industry was also hit with a challenging macroeconomic environment and the addition of privacy restrictions.
Even Cart.com was not immune: The company reportedly made an undisclosed number of layoffs at the beginning of 2023. This was even after raising funds three times in 2021 and amassing nearly $400 million in venture-based funds by that time, according to Crunchbase data.
Meanwhile, the new investment will go into meeting customer demand, international expansion and product development.
Read the full article here
