Brand marketplace Ankorstore raises $100 million for Europe expansion

BERLIN (Reuters) - Ankorstore, an online marketplace that connects independent brands with local retailers, said on Monday it had raised $100 million from investors and would invest the proceeds in expanding its footprint across Europe.

The Series B funding round comes just five months since the last raise by the Paris-based startup, which said it has trebled its business during the course of 2021 even as many shops remained closed due to coronavirus restrictions.

Ankorstore, whose founders include veterans of arts and crafts platform Etsy, has expanded access to over 5,000 curated brands and brought on board more than 50,000 independent retailers.

Co-founder Nicolas Cohen said Ankorstore would focus its investments on Britain, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden.

"Brands and independent retailers understand our mission, which is to help them to propose an alternative to the massification and standardisation imposed by the e-commerce giants," Cohen said in a statement.

The investment round was led by Tiger Global and Bain Capital Ventures, with existing backers Index Ventures, Global Founders Capital, Alven, and Aglae also participating, Ankorstore said.

(Reporting by Douglas Busvine, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)