“We are taking the scrappiest sellers in China and giving them the best Silicon Valley tech.” E-commerce makeoverįor years, Chinese merchants on Amazon were doing fine with their old formula. “We want to help the small guys go against the big guys,” said Spencer. Thanks to his parents’ work in the airline industry, Spencer traveled extensively early on but was reminded by his parents “ one’s opportunities in life are primarily a function of the circumstances of one’s birth.” Spencer’s drive, on the other hand, came from his privilege. Ren’s sense of mission to empower the underdogs is rooted in his childhood during which he saw his father, a small business owner, struggled to secure financing in China. But their real passion, they told TechCrunch via a video chat, is “empowering small and medium businesses in emerging markets.” Markai’s co-founders Chenyu Ren and Tim Spencer, who were roommates at Stanford, both hailed from the corporate world. and Asia also participated in the round, said Markai. Signia Venture Partners, Western Technology Investment, Graph Ventures and other “prominent” angels across the U.S. Sea is the parent company of household names in the region, including e-commerce site Shopee and online games company Garena. The company also raised several millions of dollars in debt but declined to disclose the amount.Īnother notable seed investor in Markai’s seed round is Sea Capital, the new venture investment arm of Southeast Asia’s internet conglomerate Sea Group. To fund its acquisition activities, Markai recently closed a $4 million seed round led by Pear VC, an early investor in DoorDash and Gusto. Other brand aggregators that have recently landed in China include Boston-based Thrasio as well as Berlin Brands Group and Razor, which are both from Germany.Ĭhina is just Markai’s starting point, as the startup plans to hunt down brands from all across Asia and bring them to a global audience.
Naturally, it’s the ideal sourcing destination for Markai and its like. China not only has a long history of export manufacturing but is also home to most of the world’s Amazon sellers. Usually venture-backed, they acquire small e-commerce sellers and try to scale them with a greater pool of capital, supply chain resources, and operational know-how.
So-called brand roll-ups, or e-commerce aggregators, have cropped up in Europe and the U.S. Markai, founded by two Stanford business school grads, has joined the fray to buy out Chinese brands seeking global consumers. Looking back at this Christmas gathering from his own middle-age - a narrator at once nostalgic and naïve - Theo Cannon remembers his imperious grandmother Rosemary, alpha-male uncle Johnny, abominable twin cousins Xan and Baz he recalls his love for his grandfather Leonard and the burgeoning feelings for his cousin Holly.China has attracted yet another e-commerce roll-up to enter its gargantuan e-commerce market. As the gathered family settle in to their first Christmas together for some years, the grown siblings - Rodney, Johnny and Gwen - are surprised when they are invited to each put stickers on the furniture and items they wish to inherit from their parents.ĭisputed Land is narrated by Leonard and Rosemary's thirteen-year-old grandson, Theo, who observes how from these innocent beginnings age-old fissures open up in the relationships of those around him. Leonard and Rosemary Cannon summon their middle-aged offspring, along with partners and children, to the family home in the Welsh Marches for the Christmas holiday.
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