E-commerce enablement investments have reportedly increased QoQ, producing $1.9 billion across 101 different deals, improvements of 2.4% as well as 9.8%, respectively. This, according to the latest research report from PitchBook.
However, PitchBook pointed out in its latest report that YoY contractions “were sharper, with deal value down 34.9% and deal count down 18.5% due to a small batch of high-value deals in 2023.”
Since the beginning of 2023, PitchBook revealed in its detailed report that “the vertical has found a new steady state, producing an average of $2.4 billion over 111 deals.”
PitchBook also mentioned that “pandemic-era, online-only shopping experiences, characterized by low interest rates, stay-at-home restrictions, and discretionary savings boosted by stimulus checks, are now in the rearview mirror.”
PitchBook added that while e-commerce’s “share of total retail transactions continues to rise, growth rates are in line with the prepandemic trajectory.”
According to the report from PitchBook, deal activity in Q2 “reflects several key investment categories for digital commerce.”
PitchBook further noted that storefronts & headless APIs “paced all subsegments in value with $383.8 million invested across eight deals.”
PitchBook also noted that “fulfillment & delivery startups raised an additional $278.6 million across 17 deals while e-commerce-as-a-service platforms netted $240.5 million across eight deals.”
PitchBook added that this capital allocation “signals opportunity for flexible, verticalized, and API-first services that enable retailers to meet shoppers via their preferred platform.”
Several thematic investments in Q2 underscore category growth vectors:
Verticalized platforms: Startups providing technology for “specific domains garnered investor attention in Q2. Fetcherr raised a $90.0 million Series B to support its AI-powered pricing software for the airline industry.”
As stated in the update, Lula Convenience raised a $32.0 million Series B to “support convenience stores and quick-service retail.”
The report also pointed out that Pepper landed $30.0 million “for food-distributor digital commerce operations.”
PitchBook concluded in its report that vertical software-as-a-service offerings “that can bundle payments and domain-specific tooling, like Toast or Shopify, have proven to generate strong returns for investors.”
