B2B marketplaces have grown 8.6x to $214B in EV. They are the fastest-growing sector in VC

Since 2015, B2B #marketplaces have grown 8.6x to $214B in combined enterprise value. They are the fastest-growing sector in VC - so far they only received 19% 🎪 of funding vs B2C marketplaces.

This breakdown of trends in B2B marketplaces by Dealroom.co focuses on:

business <> business marketplaces - e.g. Pipe

companies <> professionals - Upwork

SaaS-enabled B2B marketplaces - Reibus

📈 B2B marketplaces are expanding to cover more of their value chains

After the first wave in the early 2000s, B2B marketplaces have expanded to a larger portion of their industry value chain. They now offer integrated experiences.

💡 B2B Marketplaces experience smoother shocks in recessions vs B2C marketplaces

B2B benefit from:

longer sales cycles

lower churn

lower competition in specialized segments

value chain demand delays between consumer and business sales

But B2B marketplaces need to solve more complex customer journeys in comparison to B2C.

🏆 They are the fastest growing sectors in VC investment

VC investment in B2B marketplaces has grown 4.5x and reached $6.4B (2017 H1 to 2022 H1).

Corporate and CVC participation in funding rounds grew 44% since H1 2017

But funding levels is are still only 📍 19% of that of their B2C counterparts

>40% of B2B marketplace unicorns were created since 2021

>60% of B2B marketplace unicorns are based in the US and China

N.B. Doesn’t include SaaS with B2B marketplace add-on (Salesforce) & B2C marketplaces with B2B add-on

Source: Dealroom