WASHINGTON & CINCINNATI–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Mar 21, 2019–Amify, a turnkey solution for brands seeking to maximize their selling potential on Amazon, has announced $5.8 million in Series A funding led by Mercury Fund. Additional investors in the round include Dundee Venture Capital, CincyTech, SaaS Venture Capital and Capital One Co-Founder Nigel Morris.
The infusion of capital will be utilized to increase recruiting efforts to broaden the senior-level management team, expand marketing and branding initiatives and to further develop its proprietary next-gen data insights platform for brands to derive insights on the Amazon Marketplace. The company is also finalizing logistics for a formal opening of a second office in Cincinnati in close proximity to the Amazon Prime Air Hub at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.
“Amazon represents nearly half of the entire e-commerce market—and growing,” said Ethan McAfee, Founder and CEO of Amify. “Brands that want to win online need a strong e-commerce strategy for the Amazon Marketplace, from product page enhancements to inventory management. This funding marks the next chapter in our tremendous growth, and we are proud to have assembled a powerhouse group of investors with a strong track record of data-centric innovation and retail industry expertise.”
Bootstrapping to the Market Leader on Amazon
Led by McAfee, Amify has sold more than $100 million on Amazon for its customers since its bootstrapped inception and has empowered over 1,000 brands across a wide spectrum of consumer goods vertical industries with a unified solution to amplify their brand presence. Now armed with venture capital funding to amplify its technology innovation and management teams, brands can team with the market leader to build a cohesive strategy on sales acceleration, brand standards optimization, pricing, supply chain logistics and unauthorized seller and UPP protection.
Collectively, Amify enters this new phase as the most advanced provider in the industry and is poised for exponential growth. Strategically located near the Amazon HQ2 currently in development outside of Washington D.C., and with a new location in Cincinnati, home of the Amazon Prime Air Hub, Amify is well positioned to harness the regional talent workforce and broader ecommerce ecosystem potential.
With a 49.1 percent market share in the United States, Amazon dominates U.S. internet retail market, including 54 percent of online product searches, and gross sales growing 39 percent between 2017-2018, for a total of $463 billion in total sales. Despite this massive market opportunity, the overall ecosystem of managed service providers is still nascent.
“Ethan is one of the most impressive entrepreneurs we have invested in,” said Blair Garrou, Managing Partner at Mercury Fund. “Mercury believes that tech-enabled providers, like Amify, have great growth potential by providing brands the ability to scale product sales and manage brand equity within the Amazon Marketplace. What set Amify apart was their expertise in understanding the needs of every aspect of a brand’s Amazon strategy, as evidenced by their explosive growth over the past few years. We are excited to be their partner as they build on their foundation as an innovator in e-commerce managed marketplaces.”
Additional Investor Perspectives on Amify Series A Funding Round
“One thing that we love to invest in is a market leader that really knows their space inside and out,” said Mark Hasebroock, Managing Partner at Dundee Venture Capital. “From humble beginnings of selling pickleball paddles out of his home, Ethan has lived and breathed the Amazon Marketplace for the last 15 years. He truly knows what works and why and has built a team and service around that knowledge that, frankly, is difficult to beat. If I am a brand—I want and need Amify and its services.”
“We believe great companies often capitalize on market tailwinds,” said Collin Gutman, Managing Partner at SaaS Ventures. “Amazon defines e-commerce and brands today need to navigate Amazon in order to be successful. Amify will be a must-have tool that allows brands to win in the Amazon channel.”
“We’re excited to support a sharp entrepreneur who’s built a leading business in an emerging market,” said Doug Groh, Director at CincyTech. “Amify has strong growth potential and significant job creation planned in Cincinnati.”
About Mercury Fund
Mercury Fund is an early-stage venture capital firm based in Houston, Texas and Ann Arbor, Michigan. With over $275 million under management, Mercury focuses on entrepreneurs and technology innovation originating in the U.S. Midcontinent. Our investment themes target SaaS, Cloud, and Data Science/AI platforms that make the industrial ecosystems of Middle America more competitive and efficient. For more information, please visit http://mercuryfund.com/.
About Amify
Amify, a venture-backed two-time Inc 500 award winner, offers a turnkey solution that allows brands to maximize their potential on the Amazon marketplace. Using an end-to-end strategy, Amify has partnered with over 1,000 brands and accrued over $100 million in sales on Amazon. Amify’s customized strategies help brands adapt to the ever-changing Amazon landscape. Industry expertise and a data-driven approach power a complete solution that includes account management, brand protection, sales acceleration and content enhancement. For more information, please visit https://goamify.com/.
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