Max Rhodes spent years at Square watching small business owners struggle with wholesale ordering. The process was antiquated: attending trade shows, placing minimum orders from unknown brands, and hoping products would sell. If they didn't? Tough luck — no returns.

Rhodes, along with co-founders Marcelo Cortes, Daniele Perito, and Jeff Kolovson (all former Square colleagues), saw an opportunity to modernize wholesale commerce the same way Square had modernized payments.

The Wholesale Problem

• **Trade shows** are expensive ($5K-$20K per trip) and happen only a few times a year
• **Minimum orders** tie up capital in untested products
• **No returns** mean retailers bear 100% of the risk on new brands
• **Discovery** is limited to who you meet in person

• Getting into retail stores requires expensive trade show booths or cold outreach
• Retailers are risk-averse about unknown brands
• Payment collection from hundreds of small retailers is a nightmare

The Faire Model: Risk Elimination

These two policies eliminated the primary reason retailers avoided new brands: risk. Faire absorbed the risk using data science to predict which products would sell in which stores, minimizing actual return rates.

The Data Advantage

• Predicted which products would sell in a given store based on location, demographics, and purchase history
• Set appropriate credit limits for each retailer
• Identified brands likely to have high return rates (and adjusted terms accordingly)

This data advantage meant Faire could offer generous terms while maintaining healthy economics.

Growth Machine

Faire's early growth came from direct outreach. The team attended trade shows, not as exhibitors but as attendees, signing up both brands and retailers in person. They also built a "brand referral" program: when a brand joined Faire, they'd invite their existing retailer customers to reorder through the platform.

By 2018, word of mouth was driving growth. Retailers told other retailers about the magical platform where you could try new brands risk-free.

Scaling to $12.4B

• 2017: Launch, early traction with artisan brands
• 2018: $100M+ GMV, expanded beyond artisan goods
• 2019: Series D at $1B+ valuation
• 2020: Pandemic accelerated shift to online wholesale ordering
• 2021: $400M Series G at $12.4B valuation
• 2023: Expanded to Europe (UK, Netherlands, France, Germany)
• 2024: 700K+ retailers, 100K+ brands across 20+ countries

• Valuation: $12.4B (2021)
• Total raised: $1.3B+
• Retailers: 700K+ across 20+ countries
• Brands: 100K+
• GMV: Billions annually
• Average order: $400-$600
• Return rate: Under 5% (data-driven curation keeps it low)
• Payment terms: Net-60 for qualifying retailers