Rainforest, a Singapore-based ecommerce platform, has closed a pre-Series B round of $20 million led by Monks Hill Ventures. This comes four months after its last funding announcement. Crossbeam Venture Partners and January Capital were also present, as was Amasia, Lo & Behold Group and returning investors Nordstar Venture Partners and Insignia Venture Partners.
Rainforest announced that it has raised $6.55million in equity and $30 million debt to finance acquisitions. According to Rainforest, its latest raise has given it more than $50 million in equity and a $30 million debt facility to fund acquisitions.
Rainforest was founded by former executives from Fave and Carousell. It focuses on Asia-based Amazon brands and aims to be the e-commerce equivalent of Newell Brands, a consumer goods conglomerate.
J.J. Chai, co-founder and chief executive officers, told TechCrunch via email that Rainforest raised funds again to fund its expansion. This was due to the fact that the company has doubled its portfolio and added a few acquisitions to the mix. However, investors have increased the amount to $20m. The funding will be used to hire and build its tech infrastructure, in addition to brand acquisitions.
Chai stated that Rainforest has only raised equity because it is still using the Accial debt facility.
Rainforest launched in January 2021 and has since acquired six brands from China, including one for $3.6million. This was its first foray into China. It plans to double its brand portfolio by year's end. Rainforest then scales up brands by acquiring them, including inventory management, cost optimization, expansions into new markets and distribution channels, and expansions into new markets. Rainforest claims that its portfolio brands have experienced over 50% growth in their annual growth rates since they were acquired.
Rainforest also announced that it had hired Yev Ivanko (previously co-founder, CEO at NimbleSeller) as vice president of acquisitions and Christine Ng as vice president brand. Christine Ng has experience in marketing and branding at Sephora ShopStyle, Luxola, Shopbop and Shopbop.
