Profile: Carbon6 

What does Carbon6 do?

It's holiday time which means it is prime time for purchasing online. Over the years, as e-commerce has grown, thousands of small DTC companies and e-commerce tools have been created. In response, several venture-backed companies have emerged to consolidate these small companies to scale revenues while improving margins.  

Carbon6 is building and consolidating the Amazon e-commerce tools ecosystem. The goal is to offer a simplified suite of solutions to Amazon merchants. Carbon6 also provides educational programs and support to help merchants grow. 

How fast has Carbon6 grown?

The company has grown both via acquisition and then focusing on scaling the businesses that it acquires. The company launched in April 2021 and acquired 16 companies in its first 16 months. These include:

• PPC Entourage: a tool to maximize Amazon ad revenue and improve profit margin

• SoStocked: the first and only fully customizable inventory management and forecasting software built for Amazon sellers 

The company claimed to have 200,000+ users when it raised its last round. 

How have they financed their growth?

The company has raised a total of $75m USD over two rounds in equity and debt.

Who is behind Carbon6?

Co-founders are:

• Justin Cobb: Formely ran a business that taught 700+ founders how to run their sales and marketing company.

• Kazi Ahmed: 3x entrepreneur, fromer BCG consultant and Harvard MBA 

• Naseem Saloojee: 2x entrepreneur, former Top Hat & McKinsey and Harvard MBA

Financing has been provided by White Star Capital, Kale Investment Fund, Benevolent Capital, MidCap Financial, family offices, and various angels

Why the Carbon6 model works

The aggregator business model works as they can buy smaller companies for lower multiples to revenue or EBITDA than the consolidated company is valued at. They further benefit as the consolidator usually improves margins by implementing best practices and sharing costs (e.g. finance department). The growth of Amazon has resulted in many smaller SAAS companies serving merchants to purchase.  

Potential challenges for Carbon6

E-commerce aggregators face three challenges heading into 2023

1. Slowing eCommerce growth which puts pressure on their valuation and lowers the ability to increase value via acquisition

2. Increasing interest rates makes acquisitions more costly

3. Fierce competition from several well-funded companies is pushing up the price of acquisition.

The upside potential of Carbon6

Carbon6 may be in a relatively strong position as it raised money before the funding markets turned and may have dry powder to outlast its competitors. A slowing e-commerce market may make it easier to acquire small companies as founders of those companies are encouraged to sell and start companies with higher growth potential. 

Other notable Canadian e-commerce aggregators:

• Moonshot Brands: A DTC e-commerce brand consolidator founded by serial entrepreneur Allen Fisch and an early employee from Shift.

• EMERGE Commerce: A publicly traded e-commerce aggregator that acquired many early 2010s brands such as Shop.ca and WagJag

• WeCommerce: Andrew Wilkinson's publicly traded ecommerce tools aggregator.

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TechTO Talent

Product Manager, Carbon6 (Canada, Remote) 

Why is this cool? Noted under today's profile, Carbon6 is revolutionizing the buying and selling process for Amazon merchants and customers. It's an opportunity to join a company that's seen massive scale over the years and is on a continued trajectory for growth. APPLY HERE

Sales Development Representative, SkyHive (Vancouver, BC)

Why is this cool? An opportunity to engage with a passionate sales team, and build relationships with SkyHive customers, both new and existing. SkyHive is also doing something interesting by developing a platform to optimize human economies in real-time for companies, communities, and countries. APPLY HERE

Technical Project Manager, Coconut Software (Canada, Remote)

Why is this cool? As the Technical Project Manager, you will brainstorm, take ownership and execute large projects from day one. Coconut Software is also doing great work by helping customers easily connect with their financial institutions through their platform. APPLY HERE

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