Yonder

2024 was likely the hardest year in the past decade to raise #venturecapital funds for #startups, which makes it all the more exciting to share that Alloy successfully raised $1.5M in seed funding! While this is a huge step forward for our company, what I feel most deeply is a profound sense of gratitude. First and foremost, I want to thank our investors, who are not only brilliant but also truly exceptional people. I mean that wholeheartedly. You have each brought so much more than just capital to the table - thank you for your wisdom, guidance, and belief. Major special shout outs: Unity Holdings, our original institutional investor and biggest supporter since day one, specifically Jonathan Lam Gordon Tsui Linda L. and Michael Chen! Unity has been a driving force behind Alloy since our earliest days - both in energy/enthusiasm and capital. True champions who continue to support us however they can. Our gratitude is overflowing. 11 Tribes Ventures for leading this round with an enormous sense of conviction. Mark Phillips Kristina Chapple Brett Verkaik Jeff Baxter, you are all truly blessings in my life. Working alongside you has been an honor and a pleasure from the moment I met the team! Hustle Fund, specifically Biao Boey, Shankarsun Sahu, and Brian Nichols for sourcing the deal and investing and Shiyan K. for committing. You helped build serious momentum behind our raise and we'll forever be thankful. Yonder, who is led by the inimitable Colin Gardiner, a self-proclaimed marketplace geek and early stage marketplace investor. With a rich history of launching and scaling marketplaces himself, Colin has served as a constant source of support and guidance to myself and many other leaders at Alloy. Any startup founder would be so incredibly lucky to have Colin on her/his cap table. A selfless mentor and advisor in the truest sense. Paul Appelbaum, co-founder of Grubhub Seamless, who made the decision to invest swiftly and with conviction. Having launched one of my all time favorite apps (and probably the app through which I've spent the most money!), Paul brings deep and holistic experience launching, scaling, and sustaining complex marketplaces. Friends & Family investors, who wrote checks as small as $5,000 in the beginning to keep Alloy alive, it goes without saying but we most certainly would not be here today without you. To our incredible Alloy team—your dedication has allowed us to serve tens of thousands of customers with a product that truly makes a difference. We have literally paid our customers millions of dollars in the name of transparency and disrupting a taboo industry. Congratulations! And to our customers: you are the heartbeat of everything we do, and we’re excited to use this funding to build an even better experience for you. This moment is one of deep appreciation, reflection, and excitement for what lies ahead. Thank you all for the support - big things ahead. Stay #golden!

Marketplaces drive outlier returns! Looking at marketplace IPOs since 2010: 50% of the top VC IPOs came from marketplaces that create new economies. They were worth ~$275B post IPO. Including Meta which is a marketplace, it is 60% of the top 10 and 80% of the top 5. Marketplaces are also 5 out of the top 10 Y Combinator companies. Why do marketplaces deliver outlier returns? 1. Powerful network effects 2. Grow and create new markets/economies 3. Economies of scale 4. Embedding by integrating with customers 5. Expandable through new revenue streams Why else are marketplaces one of the best VC investments? Credit to the amazing Sonia Sahney Nagar for the table! 🙏

What valuation should I raise at for a pre-seed marketplace? If I had to break down valuations for marketplaces in the pre-seed/seed market, here is what I see pre-money: Pre-product - $3-5M Post-product and No Revenue - $5-7M Post-product and Early Revenue - $7-10M Post-product and Year-ish+ of Revenue - $8-15M Add $1-5M+ for repeat founders, hot growth, and new vertical. To get the post-money add on the anticipated raise amount. It should typically fall into 15-25% of the post-money amount. For the Founder and VCs out there in pre-seed/seed land, I would love to hear if this fits what you are seeing. Link to original post in comments.

I am excited to announce that our pre-seed round is closed and oversubscribed at $1.75M 🎉 Never in a million years did I think I would be the CEO of a tech company, but sure enough, here we are and it's better than I could have imagined. Thank you to everyone who has helped along the way and of course a major shout out to Alexandra Perebikovsky, PhD! When we started the fundraising process, I did not realize how stacked against us the odds were. Apparently only 5% of all startups ever receive venture funding and of that sliver, less than 2% goes to female founders. Despite 2023 being one of the worst fundraising climates in recent memory, we came out on top. I believe this is a testament to the team and what we are building. Since starting the company last year, we have: ✅ Built and launched the first version of the platform with over 12 pilot manufacturers ✅ Oversubscribed our beta with 200 industry members ✅ Built a 600 person waitlist ✅ Had an investor commit a $1,000,000 check during one of the most challenging fundraising climates in recent history ✅ Closed an average check size of $250,000 when the average across the country is $15,000 (for 2023 pre-seed rounds) ✅ Been part of the less than 2% of the female-founded startups who ever get funding Since launching in June at NeoCon, we have: ✅ Begun onboarding dealers, designers, and more manufacturers across the United States and Canada ✅ Delivered over 125 demos ✅ Grown the team to 23 members (and still growing!) ✅ Sharpened our product roadmap for rapid industry adoption ✅ Seen our first revenue come in ✅ Gearing-up for a fall Sales Tour (DC, NYC and CA) and our Seed Raise! ✅ ...and soon we will have some MAJOR news to announce 😉 A big thank you to Brilliant Partners Fund, The Council (and their angels!), VIPC | Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation, Apprentis Ventures, Iron Prairie Ventures, TVP Global Services, and Yonder Ventures! Designing and furnishing commercial spaces with Thumbprint Furniture is the future and we are unstoppable! Read this feature in the Washington Business Journal to learn what raising this round will allow us to do: https://lnkd.in/etfaXnfW