Our Newest Portfolio Company: Amify

We’re excited to share news of our investment in Amify, a turnkey solution for brands seeking to maximize their selling potential on Amazon. There’s a lot to like about this company, as CincyTech Director Doug Groh points out.  “We’re excited to support a sharp entrepreneur who’s built a leading business in an emerging market,” said Doug Groh, Director at CincyTech. “Amify has strong growth potential and significant job creation planned in Cincinnati.”

‍The founder.  We like to support entrepreneurs who have drive and deep domain expertise in a nascent market.  Founder and CEO Ethan McAfee started selling pickleball paddles on Amazon out of his home, eventually adding to his offerings and learning everything he could about what it takes to win in the Amazon Marketplace.  Armed with this knowledge, McAfee bootstrapped his shoestring operation into Amify, which has now sold more than $100 million on Amazon for its customers and has empowered more than 1,000 brands.

“Amazon represents nearly half of the entire e-commerce market—and growing,” said McAfee, Founder and CEO of Amify, in a release. “Brands that want to win online need a strong e-commerce strategy for the Amazon Marketplace, from product page enhancements to inventory management. This funding marks the next chapter in our tremendous growth, and we are proud to have assembled a powerhouse group of investors with a strong track record of data-centric innovation and retail industry expertise.”

Job creation in Cincinnati.  Amify is headquartered in Virginia, but expanded to Cincinnati to increase logistical efficiency, adding a distribution center close to the Amazon Prime Air Hub at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.  The  company has committed to opening an office and beginning to build out a team in Cincinnati.  They're working at Union Hall as they search for space.

How we met Amify. We were introduced to Amify by Blair Garrou, Managing Partner at Mercury Fund, the lead investor in Amify’s Series A round.  We have known Blair and Mercury Fund for years, and are co-investors, and hold board seats, in portfolio company LISNR.

Financing details.  We’ve joined a $5.8M Series A financing led by Mercury Fund, with participation from Dundee Venture Capital, SaaS Venture Capital and Capital One Co-Founder Nigel Morris.  The funding will be used to expand the senior-level management team, increase branding and marketing and to further develop Amify’s proprietary next-gen data insights platform for brands to derive insights.

Read TechCrunch coverage of the Amify Series A round here . Read the full release here.