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L Catterton Asia invests in Nebula Brands

Nebula Brands, a Chinese aggregator of third-party Amazon vendors, announced on 7th December that it has successfully completed a Series B fundraising round with investments led by the Asia fund of L Catterton, a global consumer-focused private equity firm. The investors which participated in the round have agreed to collectively provide Nebula Brands with over US$50 million, subject to continued strong performance.

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The investment will enable Nebula Brands to capitalise on the robust growth of Chinese third party Amazon vendors, who are increasingly driving the expansion of the marketplace.

Between 2018 and 2021, the number of active Chinese third-party Amazon vendors and the gross merchandise value (GMV) of transactions they generated grew faster than the wider market. China now accounts for over one-third of the total Amazon market, with approximately 600,000 third-party vendors collectively generating transactions with a GMV of US$135 billion. Chinese vendors’ share of the market is expected to rise further and account for 45 percent of third-party sales on Amazon in 2025.

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Nebula Brands is poised to tap into this growth, having assembled a strong team of more than 50 professionals in China with deep knowledge of the market and extensive on-the-ground sourcing, underwriting and operating experience.

Since the company’s founding in May 2021, it has built a solid acquisition pipeline, focusing on the highest-ranked vendors across 10 key categories, including household goods, personal care, fitness, beauty and pet supplies.

Nebula Brands Co-Founder William Wang commented, “The Chinese third-party vendor marketplace is experiencing rapid growth, with the ability to quickly scale and provide high quality products efficiently to Amazon customers across the globe. Hundreds of vendors are ready to evolve into top international brands, and we can help them reach new heights.”

“The model of aggregating Fulfilment by Amazon vendors and strengthening their operations has already proven to be extremely effective in some markets in the west and is set to take-off in China, where Nebula Brands is leading the charge. We are excited about partnering with L Catterton, which brings deep consumer and operational expertise and a fantastic track record of value creation for portfolio companies,” Wang continued.

L Catterton Asia Managing Partner Scott Chen said, “Supported by visionary founders and an incredibly talented team, Nebula Brands has developed an efficient acquisition process and promising pipeline within a remarkably short period of time.”

“There are significant opportunities for the company to leverage our operating capabilities, functional expertise and global presence as we have extensive experience in its key categories. We look forward to partnering with the team to further drive Nebula Brands’ growth and market leadership,” added Chen.

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L Catterton has invested in many fast-growing, disruptive digitally-enabled brands globally. Current and past investments in the space include Vroom, Peloton, ClassPass, Freetrade, Eco, Public Goods, Butternut Box, Sociolla and Zenyum.