E-Commerce Startup Faire Targets $500 Million in Revenue

In 2022, Faire became one of the most highly priced e-commerce startups, with a valuation of $12.6 billion, as the online marketplace benefited from a surge in internet sales during the pandemic. But after e-commerce growth cooled with waning Covid-19 restrictions, the company in late 2023 slashed its internal valuation to $5 billion, according to two people with direct knowledge of the changes.

Now, as online shopping growth has picked back up and the San Francisco startup has expanded into new business lines like advertising, Faire has started to talk to investors about raising more money or arranging to sell employees’ shares, two people with knowledge of the talks said. The company, whose site connects specialty merchants that want to sell products in bulk to retailers, is touting its stronger financial position.