Take Rate | Marketplaces

Marketplace Startup Fundraising 2026

State of the union on marketplace fundraising in 2026, investment trend data from Carta, SVB, Yonder and much more!

Jul 16 • Colin Gardiner

15

7

4

May 2026

AI Is Eating Upwork From the Bottom Up. It Might Also Save It.

A dive into whether AI is truly disrupting digital labor marketplaces like Upwork and Fiverr as much as the news headlines might suggest.

May 11 • Colin Gardiner

27

4

4

February 2026

Marketplace Memo #18 - Agent-Led Marketplaces, SaaS Crash and More

OpenClaw Marketplaces, Marketplaces Outperform SaaS, eBay Acquires Depop, OpenAI Launches Ads, Etsy and Wayfair Now in Google Gemini, Airbnb Q4 GBV Up…

Feb 23 • Colin Gardiner

11

4

3

Yonder Fund I: $4.64M to Back Marketplace Founders Building New Economies

Yonder is an early-stage fund led by Colin Gardiner that invests in marketplaces that build new economies.

Feb 2 • Colin Gardiner

20

2

5

January 2026

Marketplace Memo #17 - 2025 Wrapped and More!

2025 Marketplace Wrap-up, Boatsetter/Getmyboat and Coursera/Udemy Mergers, Coinbase and Kalshi Partner, Shopify and Uber Integration, Grindr All in on…

Jan 7 • Colin Gardiner

23

2

4

November 2025

Marketplace Memo #16

Whatnot Raises $225M at $11.5B, Mercor Raises $350M at $10B, Whop Hits $2B GTV and $142M Revenue, Kalshi x StockX and Coinbase, GetYourGuide $1B…

Nov 23, 2025 • Colin Gardiner

10

1

3

October 2025

Marketplace Memo #15

OpenAI Launches Apps, Purchasing and Jobs, Lime Hits 1B Trips, Faire Projects $500M Revenue, Scale AI Sues Mercor, Kalshi Raising at $5B, Polymarket at…

Oct 20, 2025 • Colin Gardiner

17

3

5

August 2025

The VC Fund I Wish Existed: Yonder Fund I

Yonder is an early-stage fund led by Colin Gardiner that invests in marketplaces that build new economies

Aug 19, 2025 • Colin Gardiner

38

7

July 2025

Marketplace Memo #14

AWS Launches AI Agent Marketplace, Opendoor Stock Up 180%, Polymarket Buys QCEX for $112M, Swimply CEO is Back, OpenSea Acquires Rally, Turo Acquires…

Jul 22, 2025 • Colin Gardiner

15

3

Marketplace Memo #13

Kalanick Robotaxi Reboot, Shopify Opens Up to OpenAI, Bumble CEO lays off 30%, Mercor Gets Offers up to $10B, Clutch Reaches $1B Car Sales, Kalshi…

Jul 7, 2025 • Colin Gardiner

11

1

4

June 2025

Vampire Attacks: How Marketplaces Overcome the Chicken-and-Egg Problem

The chicken or the egg growth strategy that helped launch marketplaces like Airbnb, Uber, and Thumbtack by pulling users from established platforms like…

Jun 23, 2025 • Colin Gardiner

27

10

8

Marketplace Memo #12

Meta’s Bet on Scale AI Scales AI Marketplaces, Amazon Bedrock AI Marketplace, DoorDash Ads Hit $1B, Peloton Launches Marketplace, Temu Loses 58% of U.S…

Jun 17, 2025 • Colin Gardiner

11

4

5