Consumer startups have been flush with venture-capital funding over the past decade. Now, as the threat of a recession looms and investors tell startups to cut costs, that extra capital may come in handy.
Over the past decade, consumer startups have been a focus of investors vying to back the next Instacart or Gopuff. According to PitchBook, the median deal size for consumer companies in 2013 was around $820,000 — by 2022, that figure had more than tripled, to $2.6 million.
During the pandemic, as people flocked online to buy goods, investors continued injecting capital into consumer startups. Delivery services like Rohlik and Weee grew their coffers with fresh funding, as did collectible and luxury marketplaces like StockX and Vestiaire Collective.
But as the public market sours and layoffs ripple across the tech industry, many startups are struggling to raise funding. VCs have developed concerns about the amount of money they've poured into consumer companies over the past few years, especially direct-to-consumer startups. In 2021, a record year for global venture capital, consumer companies raised more than $215 billion in funding, according to PitchBook. Consumer companies may see investor enthusiasm take a hit from the funding bonanza of the past year.
We identified the consumer companies that have scored some of the biggest windfalls from venture capitalists over the past decade. We relied on company interviews, data from Crunchbase and PitchBook, and Andreessen Horowitz's own list of hot consumer marketplaces to determine which startups made the list.
What it does: Juul manufactures e-cigarettes and nicotine products intended to serve as alternatives to tobacco cigarettes. The company launched in 2015, and by 2018 over 3 million high schoolers reported having recently used e-cigarettes. Juul's value dropped after the Food and Drug Administration that year described vaping as a youth epidemic. In June 2022, the FDA announced a ban on Juul products.
How much it's raised: $15.7 billion, according to PitchBook
Lead investors: Tiger Global, Altria
What it does: Xingsheng Youxuan, also known as Xingsheng Selected, is a Chinese grocery delivery app that allows groups of users to buy groceries in bulk. In 2021, the company, which is headquartered in China's Hunan province, operated across 13 provinces. The company is valued at $12 billion, according to PitchBook.
How much it's raised: $5.14 billion, according to PitchBook
Lead investors: Sequoia Capital China, Tencent, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan
What it does: Ola Cabs is an Indian ride-hailing company operating in India, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. It says its app connects people with drivers and vehicles including bikes, auto-rickshaws, metered taxis, and cabs. Ola planned to file for an initial public offering in 2022, but in June it decided to delay its plans.
How much it's raised: $5.1 billion, according to PitchBook
Lead investors: Warburg Pincus, Tencent, Tiger Global, SoftBank
What it does: Hello, previously known as Hellobike, is a Chinese bike-sharing platform that also operates a carpooling marketplace. It launched in 2016, amid a boom in bike-sharing platforms in China, and is one of the few companies that survived the subsequent bust. In July 2021, Bloomberg reported that Hello had abandoned its plans to file for an initial public offering in the US because of China's tightening regulations on overseas IPOs.
How much it's raised: $4.03 billion, according to PitchBook
Lead investors: Chengwei Capital, GGV Capital
What it does: Gopuff is a rapid-delivery startup that delivers food and personal-care products in US cities. In 2021, the company generated a little under $2 billion in revenue, a significant portion of which came from the establishment of 600 new warehouses, a Bloomberg report said. But Gopuff has taken a hit in the recent market downturn. In March, the company laid off 3% of its employees. In July, it cut 10% of its workforce.
How much it's raised: $4 billion, according to the company
Lead investors: SoftBank, Accel, D1 Capital Partners
What it does: Swiggy is a food-ordering-and-delivery platform that operates in more than 500 cities in India. Since its launch in 2014, Swiggy has acquired five companies, the most recent of which was Dineout, a payments app, in May, according to Crunchbase. In recent years, the company's workers have criticized what they say are low wages and difficult working conditions.
How much it's raised: $3.56 billion, according to PitchBook
Lead investors: Prosus Ventures, Tencent, Invesco
What it does: Instacart users buy groceries for pickup or delivery by personal shoppers. The company reached unicorn status in 2014, just over two years after launching, according to PitchBook. In March, as the tech industry began reeling from the market downturn, Instacart slashed its valuation to $24 billion from $39 billion. In May, the company confidentially filed for an initial public offering that could happen before the end of 2022, Bloomberg reported.
How much it's raised: $2.9 billion, according to the company
Lead investors: Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz
What it does: Rappi is a Colombian platform that allows users to buy and schedule deliveries from nearby grocery stores, restaurants, or pharmacies. Rest of World reported in May that the app now helps people make appointments for vaccinations and blood draws and "acts as an intermediary for half a dozen health care providers in Mexico City." But employees have accused it of unfair working conditions — in August 2020, about 1,000 Rappi delivery workers, known as Rappitenderos, gathered in Bogotá to protest what they described as unattainable delivery targets.
How much it's raised: $2.25 billion, according to PitchBook
Lead investors: T. Rowe Price, SoftBank, DST Global, Sequoia Capital
What it does: Ofo, a Chinese bike-rental platform, launched in 2014; Bloomberg once described it as a "pioneer" of China's bike-sharing boom. By 2017, Ofo had become one of two billion-dollar bike-sharing platforms in China. But as the boom subsided in 2018, the company downsized its operations, laid off staff, and even considered filing for bankruptcy.
How much it's raised: $2.25 billion, according to PitchBook
Lead investors: Alibaba Group, DST Global, Ant Group
What it does: Grover is a German company that runs a subscription-based rental platform for consumer electronics such as gaming consoles, cameras, headphones, and portable speakers. After raising a $330 million Series C round led by Energy Impact Partners in April, Grover expanded its operations beyond Europe to the United States.
How much it's raised: $2.2 billion, according to PitchBook
Lead investors: Circularity Capital, Fasanara Capital, Energy Impact Partners
What it does: Kavak is a Mexican company that operates a platform for buying and selling used cars. A Bloomberg report described the company as Latin America's most valuable startup, with an estimated valuation of close to $8.7 billion. Kavak operates online and through stores across Latin America. In May, it expanded to Turkey, its first outpost outside Latin America.
How much it's raised: $2.03 billion, according to PitchBook
Lead investors: Kaszek Ventures, Greenoaks Capital Partners, General Catalyst
What it does: Shein is a Chinese fast-fashion online retailer that says it reaches consumers in more than 150 countries. The Wall Street Journal reported in April that the company was valued at about $100 billion, more than Zara and H&M combined. Shein has popularized itself with shoppers between 18 and 25 by promoting "haul videos" on TikTok. In June, the company launched a $50 million fund to address textile waste, though critics accused it of "greenwashing."
How much it's raised: At least $1 billion to $2 billion, according to The Journal
Lead investors: Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital China
What it does: Getir is a Turkish company that operates a rapid-delivery service for groceries and other items. As grocery-delivery companies across Europe struggled this year, Getir laid off about 14% of its workforce in May and scaled back its plans for expansion. Insider reported in July that the company's labor practices were under investigation in New York.
How much it's raised: $1.82 billion, according to PitchBook
Lead investors: Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital, Mubadala
What it does: Bolt is an Estonian company that provides ride-hailing and other transportation services in several countries in Europe and Africa. The company has faced criticism from its workers over the years. In June 2021, its employees in the UK staged a 24-hour strike, arguing that Bolt had failed to uphold a Supreme Court ruling in a case against Uber that gig workers had a right to UK minimum wage and holiday pay. Bolt's most recent round of funding, a $711 million Series F deal led by Sequoia Capital and Fidelity, valued the company at $8.4 billion.
How much it's raised: $1.78 billion, according to PitchBook
Lead investors: Sequoia Capital, Korelya Capital, D1 Capital Partners
What it does: Lime is a platform for sharing electric bikes and scooters in about 200 cities, predominantly in North America and Europe. The company was valued at $2.4 billion in April 2019, but in the spring of 2020 its revenue dropped by 95% and it cut almost 190 jobs. It has since raised several rounds of funding including a $418 million convertible note led by Uber, Fidelity Investments, and Highbridge Capital Management in November, according to PitchBook.
How much it's raised: $1.47 billion, according to PitchBook
Lead investors: Uber, GV, Bain Capital Ventures
What it does: Cars24, based in India, is a marketplace for buying used cars and motorbikes. Users can also book appointments for vehicle inspections and price vehicles through algorithms. As of December, the company said it was operating in 200 cities in India and attracted 13 million visitors a month to its site, TechCrunch reported. But the past few months have been difficult for the company. Cars24 laid off 600 employees in May, and several top executives recently resigned.
How much it's raised: $1.41 billion, according to PitchBook
Lead investors: DST Global, SoftBank, Sequoia Capital India, Vivriti Global
What it does: Traveloka is an Indonesian company that operates a search engine for travelers to book accommodations, flights, and activities. The company was launched in 2012 and has built up a presence across Southeast Asia. Bloomberg reported in June that Traveloka had dropped its plans to go public in 2021 but was in talks to raise close to $200 million.
How much it's raised: $1.37 billion, according to PitchBook
Lead investors: Qatar Investment Authority, GIC, Expedia
What it does: Gorillas is a German grocery-delivery company that operates in eight countries in Europe including the UK, France, and Germany. In 2021, workers told Vice that they'd dealt with poor working conditions including long hours and difficult managers. As rapid-delivery and grocery platforms across Europe struggled this year, Gorillas in May laid off 300 employees in Italy, Spain, Denmark, and Belgium.
How much it's raised: $1.31 billion, according to PitchBook
Lead investors: Tencent, DST Global, Coatue
What it does: Nice Tuan operates a community-buying platform for groceries and other products in China. In August 2021, the company said it would downsize its operations, and it laid off staff without severance pay, TechNode reported, citing Chinese news reports. The Financial Times reported in January that over the past few years companies like Nice Tuan had taken a hit as VCs pulled back from funding Chinese grocery startups in favor of "hard tech" startups.
How much it's raised: $1.23 billion, according to PitchBook
Lead investors: Alibaba Group, GGV Capital, DST Global, Jeneration Capital
What it does: Picnic, a Dutch company founded in 2015, delivers groceries in 125 cities in Germany and the Netherlands. In July, Newsweek reported, citing Dutch news outlets, that a Picnic supermarket had burned down; a spokesperson for Picnic told the outlet that the police were not pursuing an investigation because they didn't believe it was a deliberate act.
How much it's raised: $1.09 billion, according to PitchBook
Lead investors: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, ABN AMRO Fund
What it does: Flink is a German grocery-delivery company that aims to deliver goods within 10 minutes. It was launched in late 2020 and by late 2021 had a valuation of $2.85 billion, TechCrunch reported. The company — one of the few thriving grocery-delivery startups in Europe this year — acquired Cajoo, a French grocery-delivery app, in May and is reportedly valued at close to $5 billion.
How much it's raised: $1.06 billion, according to PitchBook
Lead investors: DoorDash, Prosus Ventures, Mubadala Capital
What it does: Zhuanzhuan is a marketplace for secondhand items that launched in 2015. Bloomberg reported last year that Zhuanzhuan, which means "pass on" in Chinese, had appealed to Chinese consumers' growing interest in secondhand goods. Bloomberg also reported in February that while the company had been preparing for an initial public offering last year, it resorted to raising more funding from private investors because of China's tightening regulations on overseas IPOs.
How much it's raised: $990 million according to PitchBook
Lead investors: Xiaomi Technology, Tencent, 58.com
What it does: Back Market is a French company that operates a marketplace for refurbished electronics, primarily smartphones. The company's most recent round of funding was a $510 million Series E in January, which valued the company at over $5 billion, according to PitchBook.
How much it's raised: $952 million, according to PitchBook
Lead investors: Sprints Capital, General Atlantic, Groupe Arnault
What it does: Lenskart is an Indian marketplace for prescription glasses. A Bloomberg report from June described it as India's largest eyewear brand, adding that it ships over 10 million pairs of glasses a year. The report also described Lenskart's acquisition of a majority stake in the Japanese eyewear brand Owndays as creating "one of Asia's biggest online retailers of eyewear."
How much it's raised: $939 million, according to PitchBook
Lead investors: Avendus Capital, Epiq Capital, Temasek Holdings, Alpha Wave Global
What it does: Finn is a German subscription company offering cars to people who want to rent them for at least six months. Finn, which has been operating in Germany since its launch in 2019, expanded to five US states in January. In May, the company raised $110 million in equity to expand its operations across Europe and the US, TechCrunch reported.
How much it's raised: $933 million, according to PitchBook
Lead investors: Korelya Capital, White Star Capital
What it does: FirstCry is an Indian marketplace for baby and children's products. A Bloomberg report from April said the company's increase in sales in 2020 and 2021 helped it recover from losses over the previous several years. The company was in talks to file for an initial public offering this year but has paused its plans amid market volatility.
How much it's raised: $901 million, according to PitchBook
Lead investors: SoftBank, Premji Invest, Chiratae Ventures, TPG Capital Asia
What it does: GetYourGuide is a marketplace for users to book tours and excursions and buy tickets for attractions. The company is headquartered in Berlin but says it has offices in 14 countries. In 2019, GetYourGuide raised a $484 million Series E round, which it described as the highest funding round for a company in the "travel experiences" category, TechCrunch reported. In 2020, amid pandemic travel restrictions, the company raised funding via a convertible note; it has not raised an equity round to convert that note.
How much it's raised: More than $883 million, according to the company
Lead investors: SoftBank, Searchlight Capital Partners, Battery Ventures
What it does: Casavo is an Italian company that maintains a platform for buying and selling homes. A report from the magazine EU-Startups said Casavo works through an "instant buyer" model, meaning the company purchases homes, renovates them, and then finds buyers. Its CEO has said that since its launch in 2021 Casavo has sold 3,200 properties in Italy, Spain, and Portugal, TechCrunch reported.
How much it's raised: 843 million euros, or about $855 million, according to the company
Lead investors: Exor Seeds, Greenoaks Capital, Project A Ventures
What it does: Weee is an Asian-and-Hispanic-grocery-delivery service that ships products across the United States. The company brought in $400 million in revenue in 2021. In April, it raised $425 million in Series E funding from SoftBank, valuing the company at $4 billion. But in June, it laid off 10% of its workforce.
How much it's raised: More than $800 million, according to the company
Lead investors: SoftBank, DST Global, VMG Partners
What it does: Carro is a Singaporean used-car marketplace that says it relies on algorithms and human expertise to help people buy and sell cars. Carro also provides insurance and financing services.
How much it's raised: $780 million, according to PitchBook
Lead investors: SoftBank, Venturra Capital, Mitsubishi, Celestial Sage International
What it does: ManoMano is a French marketplace for DIY, gardening, and home-improvement products. Aside from France, the company ships to Spain, Italy, Belgium, Germany, and the UK. In the fall of 2021, the company began talks for an initial public offering, Bloomberg reported.
How much it's raised: $725 million, according to the company
Lead investors: Dragoneer Investment Group, Temasek Holdings, Eurazeo, Idinvest Partners, Aglaé Ventures
What it does: Vestiaire Collective is a marketplace for buying and selling secondhand luxury fashion. In March, the company, based in Paris, acquired a competitor, Tradesy, an American resale platform. It said it became the first resale platform certified as a B Corp in 2021, WWD reported.
How much it's raised: $691 million, according to PitchBook
Lead investors: Tiger Global, Kering, SoftBank, and Ventech
What it does: HomeLight is a real-estate marketplace that matches users with agents and provides insurance and escrow services. In June, TechCrunch reported that the company had acquired Accept, a lending startup based in Denver, Colorado. But Inman reported in July that the company had laid off 19% of its workforce; it followed layoffs at other real-estate-tech companies like Redfin and Compass.
How much it's raised: $645 million, according to the company
Lead investors: Zeev Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Group 11
What it does: Rohlik is a Czech grocery-delivery startup that's said to have tens of thousands of items that it buys wholesale and that usually delivers within two hours. Rohlik completed a $231 million Series D in June.
How much it's raised: $619 million, according to PitchBook
Lead investors: Sofina, Index Ventures, Partech Ventures
What it does: Harry's is an e-commerce brand for men's razors, shaving cream, and other grooming products. The company launched in 2012 as part of a wave of direct-to-consumer companies like Dollar Shave Club, Warby Parker, and Glossier. Bloomberg reported in April that the company generated more than 50% of its sales from brick-and-mortar stores. In 2020, the Federal Trade Commission blocked the sale of Harry's to Edgewell Personal Care, saying the acquisition "would eliminate one of the most important competitive forces in the shaving industry."
How much it's raised: Over $600 million, according to the company
Lead investors: Macquarie Capital, Bain Capital
What it does: Houzz is a platform for interior design and home remodeling that helps people share design tips and connect with professionals for hire. Twice in the past few years Houzz has laid off 10% of its staff. In 2019, the company disclosed that a hacker had stolen user information including home addresses, usernames, and passwords from its database.
How much it's raised: Over $600 million, according to the company
Lead investors: Sequoia Capital, Iconiq Capital
What it does: StockX is an online marketplace for sneakers, streetwear, collectibles, and gaming consoles. Bloomberg reported in January that the company had begun talks for an initial public offering with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. In May, Nike accused StockX of selling counterfeit sneakers on its site. The company laid off 8% of its staff in early July.
How much it's raised: Over $550 million, according to the company
Lead investors: Tiger Global, Dragoneer Investment Group, Altimeter Capital
What it does: Getaround is an app that connects people in need of vehicles to owners willing to rent their vehicles out. A 2020 Washington Post article described concerns that criminals were using Getaround to find rides. In May, the company said it would go public via a $1.2 billion SPAC deal, Bloomberg reported.
How much it's raised: $523 million, according to the company
Lead investors: Menlo Ventures, SOSV, Horizon Technology Finance
What it does: Facily is a Brazilian e-commerce platform that's often billed as a "social commerce" platform because it allows users to purchase items as a group at discounted rates. In 2021, the company reached unicorn status after a $135 million funding round led by Goodwater Capital and Prosus Ventures.
How much it's raised: $501 million, according to PitchBook
Lead investors: Goodwater Capital, Prosus Ventures, Monashees
What it does: Thumbtack is an online platform for home design and remodeling. The company surpassed unicorn status in 2019 with a funding round of $150 million led by Sequoia Capital. At the time, its CEO, Marco Zappacosta, acknowledged that Thumbtack had challenges scaling its business. The company has since raised another $275 million and has a valuation of just under $3.2 billion, according to PitchBook.
How much it's raised: More than $500 million, according to the company
Lead investors: Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global, CapitalG, Qatar Investment Authority
What it does: Turo is an app that helps car owners rent out their vehicles. An SF Gate report earlier this year said that "about a third of Turo's users are connected to airports." Since 2018, the company has been embroiled in a legal battle with San Francisco International Airport over whether Turo is a car-rental company and therefore needs a permit to operate at the airport. In June, a California appellate court sided with Turo, ruling that it was not a car-rental company because it didn't own the cars rented out.
Also in June, the company acquired OuiCar, a French peer-to-peer car-sharing platform — Turo described it as its largest acquisition to date.
How much it's raised: $500 million in funding, according to the company
Lead investors: August Capital, GV, Shasta Ventures
What it does: GOAT — an acronym for "the greatest of all time" — is an online retailer known for its collection of new and used sneakers, streetwear, and accessories. The company's founders said they launched in 2015 to introduce an authentication process to the online sneaker market.
How much it's raised: $493 million, according to PitchBook
Lead investors: Park West, D1 Capital Partners, Index Ventures
What it does: Course Hero is an online learning platform geared toward high-school and college students. The site has a database of more than 100 million study guides and runs a 24/7 homework helpline. Course Hero has faced criticism about its privacy and copyright practices.
How much it's raised: More than $490 million, according to the company
Lead investors: Wellington Management, TPG, Sequoia Capital Global Equities
What it does: Vinted is a marketplace for buying, selling, and exchanging new and secondhand clothes. EQT Growth, one of the company's lead investors, described the Lithuanian company as the largest customer-to-customer marketplace in Europe for secondhand fashion.
How much it's raised: 480 million euros, or about $490 million, according to the company
Lead investors: Lightspeed Venture Partners, Sprints Capital, EQT Growth
What it does: MasterClass users can enroll in classes taught by high-profile and celebrity instructors in several fields. According to PitchBook, the company is valued at $2.75 billion. While it found success early in the pandemic, in late June 2022 it laid off about 20% of its staff. Its CEO, David Rogier, tweeted that the decision was made to "get to self sustainability faster."
How much it's raised: Over $475 million, according to the company
Lead investors: Institutional Venture Partners, New Enterprise Associates, Fidelity Management & Research Company
What it does: Moda Operandi is a luxury fashion marketplace founded by a former Vogue editor, Lauren Santo Domingo. Users can shop in-season and next-season collections from new and established designers.
How much it's raised: $431 million, according to the company
Lead investors: New Enterprise Associates, Apax Digital
What it does: Skims is a shapewear brand founded by Kim Kardashian and the Swedish fashion entrepreneur Jens Grede. The company bills itself as an inclusive brand offering sizes from XXS to 4X. In January, Skims raised a $240 million Series B round led by Lone Pine Capital that took the company's valuation to $3.2 billion, according to PitchBook.
How much it's raised: $399 million, according to PitchBook
Lead investors: Lone Pine Capital, Thrive Capital, Imaginary Ventures
What it does: OfferUp is a customer-to-customer marketplace that was developed to compete with Craigslist. In response to concerns about the safety of transactions, OfferUp in 2017 started partnering with police departments and other organizations on a program to help people exchange goods safely in person.
How much it's raised: $381 million, according to the company
Lead investors: Andreessen Horowitz, Warburg Pincus, GGV Capital
What it does: Eaze is an app that offers same-day delivery of legal marijuana products in California — the largest market for such products. The company curates THC and CBD edibles, vapes, and concentrates.
How much it's raised: $357 million, according to the company
Lead investors: Bailey Venture Partners, Fresh VC
What it does: Savage X Fenty is a lingerie brand co-owned by the singer Rihanna and the French luxury conglomerate LVMH that markets itself as inclusive. Bloomberg reported in March that the company had begun working with advisors on an initial public offering.
How much it's raised: $311 million, according to PitchBook
Lead investors: L Catterton, Neuberger Berman Group, Avenir