Ankorstore

French startup Ankorstore has raised a $283 million Series C funding round (€250 million). Founded in November 2019, it took Ankorstore around two years to reach a post-money valuation of $2 billion (€1.75 billion). The company operates a wholesale marketplace for independent retailers across Europe.

Ankorstore has teams in five countries — France, the U.K., Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden. It sells products in 23 European markets. Retailers can pay up to 60 days after ordering something and there are no hidden fees for them. Essentially, Ankorstore helps retailers focus on curation, while the startup takes care of procurement.

The startup already has a deal with UPS to help brands with shipping. But the company hasn’t done much when it comes to warehousing solutions for small brands. That’s another opportunity down the road.

With 400 employees and a lot of money in its bank account, Ankorstore could act as the unifying layer of this highly fragmented industry.

Ankorstore lets independent brands sell their products to independent retailers. Those retailers can then sell those products to their own customers. It’s a B2B2C play with a focus on offline sales at the end of the chain.

You can find a bit of everything on Ankorstore, from household supplies to maple syrup, candles, headbands, bath salts and stationery items. Some verticals have been working quite well in particular, such as non-perishable groceries, beauty products and items for your home.

And it’s been working extremely well given the company’s trajectory. There are currently 200,000 retailers using the marketplace and sourcing items from 15,000 brands. In May 2021, when Ankorstore raised its Series B, the company told me it was working with 50,000 shops and 5,000 brands.