3 in Finance

1/13: Caramel (Los Angeles, CA), an end-to-end online automotive checkout platform, has agreed to be acquired by eBay (NAS: EBAY). In July 2024, the company was valued at $115M, after a $21M Series A investment from Holman Growth Ventures, FirstMark Capital, and FJ Labs. (Link)

1/8: Simple Mills (Chicago, IL), an omnichannel brand offering natural and minimally processed packaged foods, was acquired by Flower Foods for $795M. (Link)

1/8: Whatnot (San Francisco, CA), a live stream platform designed to trade limited-edition toys and collectibles, raised $265M of equity. DST Global, Greycroft, and Avra led the deal, placing the company’s pre-money valuation at $4.7B. (Link)

3 for Fun

As Shein and Temu surge, more than 15k US chain stores are expected to close in 2025. (Link)

Amazon ending its ‘Try Before You Buy’ service due to increased customer use of AI features. (Link)

Walmart names EVP Dave Guggina as U.S. Chief E-Commerce Officer. (Link)

Big movers — month over month stock performance:

Hims & Hers Health gains 40%; Alibaba gains 21%; Carvana gains 20%

On falls 16%; The RealReal falls 15%; Revolve Group falls 6%