Highstock lands $30M series A from a16z to clear beauty's surplus inventory
What's the deal? HighstockDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a business-to-business marketplace that helps beauty brands sell surplus inventory to vetted business buyers, has raised a $30 million series A led by a16z. Olivia Moore, AI partner at a16z, will join the board, while a16z investor Jeff Jordan is participating as an adviser.
What's the endgame? Founder Camille van Horne, a former Instacart product leader, built Highstock after seeing warehouses of sellable goods bound for destruction. The platform connects brands with a network of international buyers and live-commerce sellers on channels such as Whatnot and TikTok LiveDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, moving product out of core markets discreetly.
The traction is real. In little over a year, Highstock has listed more than $1 billion in inventory and works with over 100 major brands, including Laura GellerDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, BlissDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and VersedDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. Roughly 60% of transaction volume comes from brands and conglomerates with more than $500 million in annual revenue.
Why now? Beauty carries a structural surplus problem: brands often hold products with less than 18 months of shelf life, the point at which traditional retailers stop accepting goods.
What's next? Highstock plans to use the funding to expand into apparel and fashion. "Apparel is five times the size of the beauty liquidation market," van Horne said, pointing to seasonal drops that build waste into the system.
International buyers — live sellers and retailers — account for 40% of the business. One Whatnot seller working with the platform, The BoyzzzDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, has nearly 170,000 followers and more than 145,000 sales.
The signal: The round sits in the 95th percentile among all US series A deals in wellness beauty, a sign of investor appetite for infrastructure that turns waste into recoverable revenue. If Highstock's model travels to apparel, the surplus economy could become a category of its own.
Image credit: Highstock
