阿里巴巴1500万美元投资美国奢侈品电商网站 意在？
银财风投：阿里巴巴集团刚刚向美国奢侈品电子商务网站1stdibs投资1500万美元，后者可以将交易商与富裕的消费者联系起来。1stdibs原本不准备开展C轮融资，但阿里巴巴却主动与该公司取得了联系，希望以战略投资者的身份入股，帮助其拓展亚洲业务。
1stdibs成立已经13年，累计融资总额达到1.17亿美元，投资者包括Benchmark、Index Ventures和SparkCapital等大牌风险投资公司。该公司2011年任命DoubleClick前CEO、谷歌（微博）前高管大卫·罗森布拉特（DavidRosenblatt）担任CEO，这些融资也大多是在他上任后完成的。
1stdibs由迈克尔·布鲁诺（MichaelBruno）创立于2001年，他的目标是把以特色产品著称的巴黎跳蚤市场引入互联网。
自从加盟1stdibs后，罗森布拉特已经从eBay和美国运通引入了一批经验丰富的零售人员，并改造了该网站的基础设施，还改变了以往单纯的列表订阅模式，增加了服务的多样性。罗森布拉特指出，该网站过去6个月的流量翻了一番，买家注册量和客户数量也都大幅增长，该网站的产品平均售价超过2000美元。
罗森布拉特也很重视互联网扩张。他表示，1stdibs将借助这笔新的投资吸引更多国际买家和交易商，同时加快移动领域的发展速度。该服务目前的月独立用户访问量大约为200万。
罗森布拉特在提到阿里巴巴的投资时说：“从长期来看，中国和整个亚洲都将成为世界上最大的市场。”
虽然1stdibs还没有进军中国，但当1stdibs涉足这些市场时，他将充分利用阿里巴巴的经验。“我们资金充裕，但我们需要他们的技能和经验。”他说。
阿里巴巴发言人说：“1stdibs团队正是我们希望支持的创业者，他们拥有伟大的愿景和强烈的使命感。我们希望在今后几年与他们合作。”
Michael Bruno，Founder
As Founder and Chairman of 1stdibs, Michael Bruno has always lived by his motto: "Decide what you want, believe in it and then get ready for the ride of your life." It's with this spirit that he founded 1stdibs over 10 years ago, bringing a handful of antiques dealers from the famed Marché aux Puces in Paris to discerning American collectors through his newly launched website, 1stdibs.com.
Michael is now focused on the long-term strategic vision of the company and also acts as 1stdibs' Chief Creative Officer. In addition, he continues to travel around the world, visiting prospective dealers.
Michael is also actively involved in many charitable organizations, including the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), the Museum of Art and Design and the Bard Graduate Center. In addition, Michael sits on the Board of Trustees of the Museum of the City of New York as well as the Board of Directors of Alpha Workshops.
David Rosenblatt，Chief Executive Officer
As CEO of 1stdibs, David Rosenblatt spends his time thinking about how to create the preeminent digital platform for the luxury market.
Prior to his position at 1stdibs, David served as CEO of DoubleClick — the leading provider of online marketing technology and services — from 2004 until 2008, where he helped contribute to the digital migration of the advertising industry.
David sold the company to Google in 2008 for $3.2 billion. Following the acquisition, he stayed on as Google's President of Global Display Advertising through 2009.
David serves on the boards of Twitter, IAC and Narrative Science, and is a founder and non-executive chairman of Group Commerce, Inc.
Laurence Forcione，Technology Founder
As 1stdibs' Technology Founder, Laurence Forcione built the company's platform from the ground up.
Laurence was born in New York but grew up in Paris where he graduated from the American University of Paris with a degree in Computer Science. He worked briefly for Apple's Ireland outpost before founding a media agency of his own called Et Alors Productions. In 1999, Forcione met Michael Bruno, and the two went on to create 1stdibs.
Laurence is now advising our engineering team as they develop the next generation of the 1stdibs platform.
Carmine Bruno，Managing Director, 1stdibs International
As Managing Director of 1stdibs UK, Carmine oversees all aspects of our UK business, including local sales, operations, and dealer support, as well as managing our network of important art and antiques trade associations.
Carmine joined 1stdibs in 2012 through the company's acquisition of UK-based art and antiques portal, Online Galleries Ltd., where he served as Managing Director from 2007. Within 5 years, Carmine grew OnlineGalleries.com into a leading marketplace of over 35,000 items from top dealers around the world and built strong relationships with leading trade associations.
Previous to Online Galleries, Carmine spent almost a decade specializing in the sales of high-end fine art to collectors around the globe.
Adam Karp，Chief Marketing Officer
As 1stdibs' CMO, Adam Karp is responsible for all marketing and communications including public relations, social media marketing, email and offline advertising as well as managing the company's editorial team.
He has more than 15 years experience in consumer marketing, including senior roles with leading brands FreshDirect, Barnes & Noble and, most recently, American Express, where he served as VP Customer Base Management. While with Barnes & Noble, Adam was instrumental in developing the first marketing programs and platforms necessary to create a seamless, multichannel customer experience.
Ross Paul，Chief Technology Officer
As CTO, Ross Paul is responsible for building and maintaining the scalable systems necessary for our rapidly growing business.
Ross joins us from MLB.com, where he served as VP of Engineering, helping to develop innovative programs like their stat-casting application, real-time pitch classifier and live mobile streaming video platform, and products for connected devices including video game consoles, Roku and Internet-enabled TVs. Previously, he worked for Lockheed Martin's Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.
Richard Pham，Chief Financial Officer
In his role as 1stdibs' CFO, Richard Pham is responsible for leading the finance, legal and human resources teams.
Prior to 1stdibs, Richard served as VP of Finance for Tiny Prints, an online retailer of premium, design-focused, personalized stationery. Following the company's sale to Shutterfly for $350 million in 2011, he served as Vice President at Shutterfly, where he continued to oversee the financial operations for Tiny Prints.
Xiaodi Zhang，Vice President of Product
As Vice President of Product, Xiaodi Zhang oversees the product strategy and management, user experience, site design and item quality teams.
Before joining 1stdibs, Xiaodi was the Senior Director of Product at Gilt Groupe where she helped launch several site initiatives that resulted in a significant increase in purchase conversion and inventory sell-through. Prior to that, Xiaodi spent six years at eBay in various leadership roles throughout the company's Buyer Experience, Search and eBay China divisions, where she helped launch numerous key products across all of eBay's 37 markets.
Matt Cohler，Benchmark Capital, Director
Matt Cohler has extensive experience working with great entrepreneurs to build lasting consumer Internet companies, having served in senior management roles at Facebook and LinkedIn. Before LinkedIn, he was a consultant in McKinsey & Company's Silicon Valley office and worked in Beijing for AsiaInfo, the telecom solutions provider that built China's Internet infrastructure, prior to the company's initial public offering.
页:
[1]
2