Online plastics platform Knowde gets $72 million in financing

Image Credit: PRNewsfoto/Knowde

Online polymers, chemicals, and ingredients platform Knowde has raised US$72 million in Series B financing led by technology investment firm Coatue.

Existing investors Sequoia Capital, Refactor Capital, Bee Partners and Cantos Ventures are also participating in this round, alongside new investors Sound Ventures, a venture capital firm founded by Ashton Kutcher and Guy Oseary; TQ Ventures, founded by Schuster Tanger, Andrew Marks, and Scooter Braun; K5 Global; and, Mantis VC, in partnership with The Chainsmokers.

“Digital marketplaces have the power to transform industries,” said Kris Fredrickson, managing partner at Coatue. “We’re excited to partner with Knowde because we believe in the company’s vision to re-shape the way marketing and sales are done in one of the largest industries in the world.”

Coatue officials noted that the chemical and ingredient industry, which generates US$5 trillion in annual revenues and impacts more than 25 per cent of global GDP, “has relied on field sales teams, catalogs and other traditional marketing tactics for more than a century.”

“With Knowde, for the first time ever, buyers can search, compare, sample, quote and purchase products from every producer on earth – all in one place,” they continued. “Suppliers get the leading-edge technology they need to extend their market reach, lower cost of sales and provide their customers with the online buying experience they desire.”

Knowde recently expanded its presence to cover every major vertical across the entire industry, and now says it has thousands of supplier storefronts on its platform, which is more than any distributor, marketplace or middleman organization in the history of the industry.

With this round, Knowde will invest in product development for new buyer and supplier features, further enhancements to its ecommerce capabilities, and international expansion opportunities.

“This is one of the few remaining industries that has not been touched by software. Marketplaces have instantly modernized major industries. Knowde is bringing this same experience to the largest market in the world,” said Ali Amin-Javaheri, co-founder and CEO of Knowde.

Some of Coatue’s other private investments have included Airtable, Snap, Snowflake, and Spotify.