TCGplayer has raised $10 million in equity capital from a single investor, Radian Capital, a $150 million growth equity fund headquartered in New York. The money will be used to develop new technology to serve the collectible industry, according to the announcement. Radian Capital specializes in B2B software and technology-enabled services businesses located in non-traditional technology hubs (TCGplayer is located in Syracuse, New York, and Atlanta, Georgia).
TCGplayer evolved from an online retailer to an online marketplace for collectibles, and moved to add e-commerce solutions for hobby retailers last year (see "TCGPlayer Takes on Crystal Commerce"). The company has over 200 employees.
"Through our e-commerce software tools, we enable the 10,000 independently-owned hobby stores across the United States to compete against large corporate retailers," TCGplayer Founder and CEO Chedy Hampson said. "To date, we have driven over $250M in sales to retail stores through our Marketplace. This funding will allow us to more rapidly develop additional technology solutions to serve this growing market."
The company has plans to add other collectible categories, a factor which helped lead Radian to the investment, according to Radian Capital Co-Founder Weston Gaddy. "We believe our investment will help them leverage this position to migrate into the much larger hobby store space for comic books, sports cards, and board games," he said.
To Fund Technology Development
Posted by Milton Griepp on February 28, 2018 @ 1:47 am CT