Olsam, who acquire and scale category leading ecommerce businesses, has completed the acquisition of the assets of Flywheel Commerce, a US-based ecommerce aggregator. The acquisition will help Olsam, which recently raised $165m, further extend its footprint globally, in particular across North America. Following completion, the brands of Flywheel Commerce will continue to operate in the US and by leveraging Olsam’s expertise as a UK acquirer, expand them globally, notably into the UK and EU.
This is a massive leap forward for the business founded by Sam and Ollie Horbye. Sam worked at Amazon HQ in London in their marketplace team managing hundreds of UK and EU Seller businesses and has started, scaled and sold his own category leading Amazon FBA brand. Ollie began his career in M&A at an investment bank before gaining his professional accountancy qualification at Deloitte. Together they started Olsam which has rapidly grown and with the Flywheel Commerce acquisition have opened up the massive US market to attack in 2022.
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Globally in 2020, Amazon’s vast ecosystem of six million sellers generated over $300 billion in sales, growing 50% year-over-year. This grew again by 61% in Q1 of 2021, which would make this ecosystem the 42nd largest economy in the world. Firms acquiring successful brands on Amazon have attracted around $7 billion in capital over the past twelve months, with almost 3,000 sellers in the UK hitting $1 million in turnover. With more than half (53%) of product searches now starting on Amazon, compared to 23% starting on search engines, there is a huge opportunity to scale ecommerce businesses across global marketplaces
The market is still relatively young, and with a large influx of capital into the sector, this is one of the first examples of market consolidation in the Amazon aggregator space. Those that can leverage scale and operational capabilities to grow not just via acquisitions, but organically as well through international expansion, paid social, affiliate marketing and D2C, are more likely to succeed in the long run.
One of the brands joining the Olsam portfolio is Paw 5, the creator of the original Snuffle Mat. The products are manufactured by Ethical Apparel Africa, a female led NGO based out of Ghana that utilizes sustainable upcycled textiles. With design and utility patents in place, Olsam believes that by expanding the product line-up as well as by geography, Paw 5 can showcase the levers that the Company pulls across all its portfolio.
To learn more about what makes a business a great acquisition and what would make Olsam want to acquire your business, download our ebook ‘Growing a business with a purpose’.
“Flywheel entered the ecommerce space two years ago after seeing the accelerated growth of Amazon’s ad spending and third party seller businesses. Our strategy was to partner with world class entrepreneurs and businesses that could provide a unique edge by bringing their products and offerings into the Amazon ecosystem. Olsam provided the three things that we cared most about. Fair value for our business, trust that they could and would get the transaction done on the terms we agreed to, and a counterparty with whom we enjoyed working. From our first conversations with Tommy and Nicki from Olsam’s M&A team, they were prepared, with a perspective on our business, and a willingness to collaborate to find the right path forward that satisfied the needs of all parties.”
– Jonathan Greenglass, Flywheel CommerceJonathan Greenglass, Flywheel Commerce
“I personally love the Paw 5 brand due to its emphasis on sustainably sourced materials and a really interesting manufacturing value chain, from the materials they use to create the product, through to the team behind the brand itself and the IP that sits behind the materials and design. Jonathan has thought very carefully about building a brand that customers adore, with strong reviews, brand and IP, that will allow Olsam to scale this brand to new heights.”
– Sam Horbye, Co-founder, Olsam
“The whole Olsam team have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Jonathan and the Flywheel Commerce Team during the process. We see enormous growth potential in the portfolio of brands, in particular launching them in Olsam’s home European markets. The acquisition of the assets of US aggregator Flywheel Commerce represents a significant milestone for Olsam as we continue to deepen our presence in the US. Olsam’s operational expertise and successful track record continues to attract strong deal flow from the US and we look forward to working with many more US based sellers and aggregators seeking an exit.”
– Ollie Horbye, Co-founder, Olsam
