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Join us on our Journey to the 2024 Marketplace Conference in Berlin, September 2024!

Hot off the press, this is the 54th edition of The Marketplace Snippet curated by Kate, Marc, and Mathias on behalf of the Speedinvest Marketplaces & Consumer team 🔥

In this edition:

  • The 2024 Marketplace Conference: snapshot of content agenda!
  • Assessment of how leading European C2C second-hand fashion marketplace, Vinted, reaches profitability!
  • Our take on Bill Gurley & Michael Mauboussin going head-to-head on Invest Like The Best with a deep dive featuring the importance of network effects!
  • We announce one of our most exciting investments of 2024: roclub!

If you’ve missed past newsletters or simply can’t get enough, catch up on recent editions here.

The Marketplace Conference: Tuesday Sept’ 24 2024

We are thrilled to announce that our early bird tickets continue to sell apace our Tuesday September 24th, 2024 annual marketplace conference. 

Hosted in downtown Berlin each fall, The Marketplace Conference is now the largest, dedicated European and US marketplace conference, drawing over 500 attendees, with a focus on the most selected and salient content over the prior twelve months. 


The 2024 Marketplace Conference content deep dive…

This year’s marketplace conference theme draws heavily from AI, underpinned by its exceptional growth and global attention over the last 18 months. 

Therefore, the 2024 Marketplace Conference official title is “Unraveling the Hype: Unveiling AI's Evolution in the Marketplace.”

This year’s conference will address both the exceptional opportunities and challenges that go hand-in-hand with the advent of generative AI within marketplaces. 

In this Snippet edition, we are thrilled to outline some of the sessions from a content title perspective with a deep dive on one session arriving in the June edition! Buy your ticket now to join one of the following content sessions:

Keynote address:

  • "The Rise of AI-Powered Marketplaces: Separating Fact from Fiction”

Panel discussions selected examples:

"Ethical Considerations in AI Adoption for Marketplaces"

"Investor Panel: Funding AI-Driven Marketplace Innovations"

Masterclasses & workshops selected sessions:

"Building AI-Powered Recommendation Engines"

Hands-on workshop on developing personalized recommendation systems using AI algorithms

  • "Responsible AI: Mitigating Bias and Ensuring Fairness"
    • Masterclass on identifying and addressing biases in AI systems
  • "AI in Supply Chain and Logistics Optimization"
    • Workshop on leveraging AI for supply chain management and logistics optimization

Fireside chat selected example:

  • "Marketplace Founder/CEO Journey: Lessons Learned"

The 2024 Marketplace Conference initial speaker line-up…

We are thrilled to announce that we already have aligned a set of excellent speakers, spanning from European founders to US investors, already committed, with many more in the works! 

This September, we are so excited to welcome Pete Flint (NFX), Nikolaus Volk (Founder and CEO of Kyte), and Christine Kim (Greylock Partners) on stage, among others. 

Please stay tuned for our June 2024 edition of The Snippet, where we will continue to publicize and write about our incredible speaker line-up! 

Application process...

Due to exceptional demand last year for tickets, for our early bird tickets, we have opened an application process, which will be reviewed and approved within a few days. 

 To continue to apply for an early bird ticket, please go here! 

Any questions, please reach out to Fabienne Howard. 

Notes & News From Marketplace Companies & Operators

  • European-headquartered P2P fashion marketplace, Vinted, reaches profitability! 
    • Vinted, the leading C2C second-hand fashion marketplace in Europe, has announced that it reached profitability in 2023. The marketplace announced its annual earnings - posting a stellar €596.3m topline, a growth of 61% YoY, and with a positive adjusted EBITDA margin of 13%. 
  • Fast delivery startup, Getir, formally withdraws from the UK market, a recipe for scaling back across Europe 
    • One of the best capitalized startups from the 2020 global pandemic, Getir, has announced its formal exit from the UK, in addition to Germany and the Netherlands. This announcement comes off the back of the Turkish-headquartered company’s withdrawal from Spain and Italy. Getir’s rapid expansion during Covid-19 has been linked to subsequent losses, as shoppers gradually have shifted away from the online convenience market. 
  • Carro, a Singapore car startup, solicits $1.5bn valuation!
    • Excitingly, Southeast Asia’s number 1 used-car marketplace, Carro, has targeted a $100m raise, for a pre-initial public offering funding round. It is expected that its valuation will reach just over $1.5bn.
  • What did VCs get fundamentally wrong with Shopify?
    • Read and watch this excellent piece on X, by Tobi Lutke, the CEO of Shopify, articulating why the Sand Hill Road investors passed on Shopify.
  • Online ticketing marketplace, StubHub gears up towards a summer 2024 IPO!
    • Just one month after the sizable Reddit initial public offering, StubHub, which carries more than $2bn in debt, will test public markets’ appetite for companies with challenged balance sheets. While no figure has been formally offered for its valuation, it is expected that the company will raise money at its 2021 valuation of $16.5 billion.  
  • eBay’s acquisition journey continues with its most recent commercial agreement with Collectors 
    • eBay has continued to rapidly invest in the trading card space, and has most recently announced three significant commercial transactions with Collectors, which is the parent company of Professional Sports Authenticator. This set of acquisitions will help eBay continue to expand its range of inventory for buyers as well as give acquired sellers a much broader audience. 

Notes & News From Marketplace Venture firms & Investors

  • A deep dive on the definition and usage of network effects 
    • Read this great summary, complete with case studies, on the use of network effects, including how they make companies valuable and their key characteristics. 
  • Understand a deep dive of the business models of 35 marketplaces including on economics and key insights 
    • Read a detailed overview of marketplace models as CJ Gustafson unpicks the growth drivers of 35 selected, successful marketplace models.
  • Listen to the very best growth hacks for startups
    • Watch a 50-minute compilation of growth hacks for startups, including those applicable to marketplace companies. 
  • Decide whether AI is a platform shift or a paradigm shift with Benedict Evans
    • Understand Benedict Evans, former partner at A16Z, on how AI has moved from a platform shift to a paradigm shift, a change evident especially over the last 24 months.
  • Listen to this podcast by Bill Gurley and Michael Mauboussin on Putting Theory into Practice
    • Hear two investor stalwarts and longtime friends discuss returns to scale, hardware, and regulatory change against the backdrop of AI. 

News From Our Portfolio

  • TIER separates from nextbike to focus on electric micro-mobility solutions!
    • Tier has signed an agreement to sell nextbike, the Leipzig-based bike-sharing provider, to STAR Capital. This decision is in light of TIER-Dott’s shared commitment to becoming the very best electric micro-mobile solution across Europe. 
  • Our announcement of our joint health and marketplace team deal - roclub!
    • We are thrilled to finally announce our investment in roclub, which revolutionizes how medical devices are used, thereby enabling diagnostic examination anytime and anywhere.

New Investments in Marketplaces Around the Globe

Explore the ever-changing marketplace landscape with our latest roundup of marketplace financing rounds in our dedicated deal overview, offering a snapshot of current trends.

Join Us!

We are always on the lookout for top-tier talent! Have a look at our open positions at Speedinvest and across our portfolio and check out our talent pool, ​​an exclusive platform connecting top executives with over 300 dynamic companies in our portfolio - join now to gain access to a pool of 1000+ open positions across various industries.

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