Heyday, pioneering a marketplace-native approach to e-commerce brand building, raised $70 million in Series B equity financing less than six months after raising $175 million in Series A funding.

WHO: Co-founded by Sebastian Rymarz and Adam Gerchen, Heyday is a platform accelerating digital brands for today’s consumers. They acquire and incubate marketplace-native brands through innovative partnerships with e-commerce entrepreneurs. Once a part of the Heyday platform, brands tap into technology, data, and capital custom-built to drive exponential revenue and profit growth.

WHY: Heyday’s marketplace-native approach reflects consumers’ shifting preferences toward convenience, selection, and value that digital marketplaces like Amazon are in the best position to deliver, and is in stark contrast to the conventional direct-to-consumer (DTC) mantra that marked the last decade of e-commerce brand building.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS: “Amazon developed the world’s largest entrepreneur-creation machine, with 50% of its sales made by entrepreneurs who are building brands that delight consumers every day. Our mission is to help those eCommerce entrepreneurs reach new heights,” said Sebastian Rymarz, Heyday co-founder and CEO. “A digital brand is worth more inside of Heyday than outside of Heyday.”

“Heyday has scaled rapidly since emerging from stealth, and stands out in a competitive, fast-growing space with its bold, brand-first approach and its focus on technology and data as differentiators to building an enduring company,” said Mark Crane, partner at General Catalyst. “We look forward to supporting Heyday’s continued growth in the marketplace ecosystem.”

DETAILS:

• Heyday closed on $70 million of Series B equity financing.
• General Catalyst returned to lead the round, tripling its original investment, with additional financing from existing investors including Khosla Ventures and Arbor Ventures, as well as Heyday’s entrepreneur partners.
• Since emerging from stealth in November 2020, Heyday has scaled rapidly, crossing $100 million in revenue, growing its global team to over 100 employees, and expanding into over a dozen international markets.
• Heyday has also brought on new leadership talent to support its exponential growth over the last six months, adding experienced operators in Head of Technology Tapan Shah (Coupang, Amazon), Head of Operations Karan Gandhi (Boxed, Amazon), Head of Creative Ted Tsandes (Skullcandy), and Head of Legal Megan Agnew (Conagra, Latham & Watkins).
• Heyday has also appointed e-commerce innovator Tina Sharkey, co-founder of Brandless and Board Member of PBS and Havenly, to the Board of Directors to shape the trajectory of Heyday and provide strategic counsel and global brand and product innovation experience to support the company’s rapid scale.
• Mark Crane, partner at General Catalyst, will also join Heyday’s board.
• In December 2020 Heyday closed a $175 million Series A funding round.