Fab.com

E-commerce / design goodsUSA
🀝 Acquired
PeakΒ $1 BillionToday
~-98%
from peak
  1. πŸ¦„
    Became a unicorn
    2013
  2. πŸ“ˆ
    Peak valuation
    $1 Billion ’13
  3. πŸ’”
    Became a Unitard
    2014
  4. πŸ’Έ
    Last valuation
    ~$20M
Current status
Sold to PCH International in a 2015 fire sale for ~$15M after burning through $300M+.

How it happened

Fab.com launched in 2011 as a flash-sale site for design goods and quickly became one of the hottest e-commerce startups of its era, raising about $335M β€” including a round at a $1B valuation in 2013 β€” under founder Jason Goldberg. But it burned roughly $12M a month, chased growth through costly pivots and international expansion, and never found a sustainable model. By 2015, after deep layoffs, Fab was sold to Irish manufacturer PCH International in a fire sale worth only about $15M, a near-total wipeout for its backers and a defining cautionary tale of the early-2010s startup boom.

Source: TechCrunch / SiliconANGLE / GeekWire ($165M round at ~$1B valuation 2013, raised ~$335M total; burned ~$12M/month; sold to PCH International ~$15M, March 2015)

More from the club

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