Plans to leverage Amazon’s FBA Ecosystem to build a multi-category commerce platform

AUSTIN, Texas, June 07, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — 101 Commerce Inc., a multi-brand, private-label ecommerce company based in Austin, today announced its first round of fundraising and initial acquisitions. The Series A investment was led by Next Coast Ventures with participation from 3L Capital, Brian Sharples, founder of HomeAway, and Cotter Cunningham, founder of RetailMeNot.

The investment launches 101 Commerce’s stated objective to acquire and invest in building private-label brands that utilize Amazon ‘FBA’ (Fulfillment by Amazon) as their main ecommerce platform and Amazon.com as their primary distribution channel. 

“The operating leverage that Amazon FBA provides private label brands is incredible, and this funding enables us to acquire multiple brands and build infrastructure to grow them further,” said Richard Jalichandra, founder and CEO of 101 Commerce. “We are thrilled to have financial partners like Next Coast Ventures and 3L Capital that truly understand the power of consolidation and how it multiplies operating leverage and growth opportunities.”

101 Commerce is creating additional operating leverage for growing FBA businesses by providing technology, supply-chain economies of scale, and big data marketing and analytics – traditionally challenges for niche, ecommerce brands.  The company expects to be profitable this year, and raise additional significant capital to continue acquiring and investing on its expanding pipeline of product categories and consumer segments.

“101 Commerce’s strategy hits squarely on two of our investment themes: the changing face of retail and the ecommerce renaissance ushering in bigger, better and stronger ways to disrupt their respective industries,” said Thomas Ball, co-founder and managing director of Next Coast Ventures. “Richard has a strong track record of building great brands and has a keen eye for spotting inefficiencies within an industry – we believe this venture is no different, and has the potential to totally enhance the dynamics of the FBA business ecosystem.”

Jalichandra, formerly the CEO of BodyBuilding.com, iSocket, MapMyFitness, and Technorati, founded the company after seeing the fast growth of in the Amazon FBA marketplace. In 2017, the number of FBA businesses doing more than $100,000 in sales was 140,000, up from 70,000 in 2015.  Further, last year more than 20,000 FBA businesses did over $1 million in sales. Today, over half of Amazon’s package volume is now coming from marketplace sellers. Most of these small and mid-size businesses utilize FBA to operate their ecommerce businesses, as it enables them to outsource the biggest challenges ecommerce companies face and enjoy the benefits of being an Amazon Prime offering: consumer traffic, efficient conversion and checkout, and fulfillment.

“The creativity and entrepreneurial spirit which Amazon has unleashed with its FBA program has created a new class of entrepreneurs who deliver high quality product experiences for consumers,” said Shawn Colo, co-founder and managing partner of 3L Capital.  “Richard, his founding team, and the investor syndicate have collectively built some of the most successful internet companies by combining smart acquisition strategies with product innovation and we are excited to be their partner.”

About 101 Commerce, Inc.

101 Commerce is building a global ecommerce business that will power hundreds of private label brands across diverse product categories. In the next two years, 101 Commerce will acquire and launch multiple brands that primarily utilize the incredible operating leverage of Amazon’s FBA platform. What AWS is to software services, FBA is to ecommerce: you can outsource the hardest parts of ecommerce (traffic, conversion, fulfillment, free shipping, etc). This allows growing businesses to focus entirely on designing a great product, building a great brand and providing stellar customer service. Through consolidation, 101 Commerce is creating additional operating leverage with technology, supply-chain economies of scale and big, data-driven marketing – normally a set of big challenges for niche, ecommerce brands. 101 Commerce is based in Austin, Texas, a thriving hub of Amazon FBA businesses.

About Next Coast Ventures

Next Coast Ventures is an Austin-based venture capital firm founded by entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs. It engages top entrepreneurs in ‘Next Coast’ markets to build a robust portfolio comprised of early-stage and high-growth startups disrupting big markets with innovative technology. With a focus on thematic investing, NCV keeps its finger on the pulse of what top entrepreneurs are creating outside the East and West coasts, and helps bring those ideas to life with a dynamic network of industry experts. The fund provides comprehensive company building resources to support the portfolio’s business growth and its leaders’ personal growth as rising entrepreneurs.

About 3L Capital

3L Capital partners with CEOs and founders of expansion-stage companies in the technology, consumer and data services sectors. The firm provides management teams with the capital, perspective and relationships they need to become market leaders.  The firm has offices in Los Angeles and New York. 

Media contacts:
Dagney Pruner
[email protected]
713-515-2287

Lauren Seegers
Blast PR for 101 Commerce
[email protected]
903-330-8423

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/db2b3712-17f7-40ae-9d25-9bf82b4758b4