Marketplaces & Consumer
Thought leadership, insights, and deep dive reports from our Marketplaces & Consumer team.
The 15-Year Evolution of TourRadar: From Photo-Sharing to Global Tour Booking Platform
Discover how TourRadar grew from a niche photo-sharing site into a leading platform for multi-day tours. In this 15-year journey, founder Travis Pittman shares lessons on scaling, resilience through COVID-19, and building a category-defining travel business.
Stop Asking, Start Showing: Why GUIs Still Reign Supreme in the Age of AI
In the age of AI, chat and voice interfaces are touted as the future, but GUIs still hold the edge. Discover why cognitive load matters and how offering clear, visual options enhances user experience. Learn when chat/voice interfaces work and when they fail in consumer tech.
How Opal Became the #1 Focus App and a $10M Business With Just 11 People
Discover how Opal, the world’s leading focus and screen time app, grew to $10M ARR with a lean team. Founder Kenneth Schlenker shares insights on attention management, product-market fit, and mission-driven growth backed by Speedinvest.
Latest Articles
Why Smart VCs Bet on Weird Ideas: An Investment Thesis to Find the Next Generation of Consumer Titans
Explore how technology shifts, behavioral changes, and network effects shape investment strategies in marketplaces and consumer startups. Learn how non-obvious opportunities, like AI and social layer products, drive growth and create defensibility for successful companies.
From MVP to Global Leader: Scaling CoachHub with Matti Niebelschütz
Discover key insights from Matti Niebelschütz, CEO of CoachHub, on how strategic focus, disciplined execution, and adaptability helped build a global leader in coaching technology.
Why We Invested in Firsty: Democratizing Global Mobile Data with eSims
Firsty, a next-generation telecom provider, is breaking new ground by offering free mobile data globally, upending the slow-moving telecommunications industry.
Why We Invested in Revyze: Shaping the Future of Education for Gen Z
We are constantly on the lookout for innovative companies that have the potential to reshape industries and create lasting impact. That’s exactly what we found in Revyze, a Paris-based Edtech redefining how Gen Z approaches learning.
How To Build an AI-Enabled Marketplace in 3 Steps
Speedinvest's Sameer Singh breaks down how to build an AI-enabled marketplaces in three steps with exclusive insights from Ronan Harvey-Kelly and Pete Flint.
Shifting Gears and Navigating Change in the Marketplace Landscape
Speedinvest's Jeroen Arts and Katharine Spooner discuss the importance of adaptability for marketplace startups and the role Gen Z and AI will continue to play.
Get Outside with Raus: A Platform for Sustainable Nature Getaways
Raus, a Berlin-based startup, battles cheap flights by offering guests sustainable nature getaways to help combat climate anxiety and the stress of city life.
Is Your Marketplace Idea Any Good? Find Out With the Network Effects Scorecard
Speedinvest's Philip Specht and Sameer Singh share how to evaluate your marketplace business idea in just five minutes using their revamped network effects scorecard.
Full Stack Marketplace: Insights From Our Marketplace Meetup in Paris
Speedinvest's Maximilian Wilhelm discusses the full stack marketplace with exclusive insights from experts, like Pete Flint, Charlotte Cadé, Yann Ranchere, and more.
Monetization Strategies for Marketplace Businesses: Blending Predictability and Upside Potential
Speedinvest's Marc Mühling shares how to monetize your marketplace business with insights from marketplaces professionals from Accel, NFX, Timberhub, and more.
Where to Start New Marketplace Businesses Today: 7 Picks from Investors and Entrepreneurs
Speedinvest's Marc Mühling shares insights from marketplaces professionals (Accel, NFX, Eurazeo, EQT Growth, Vinted, and Timberhub) and dives deeper into each of the untapped opportunities in the space.
Emerging Markets Outlook | A New Generation of Unicorns
Speedinvest's Irene Gentili and Philip Specht share their emerging markets thesis and why they believe that empowering the flow of capital towards network effects-focused businesses in those regions can deliver outstanding returns.
The 10 Commandments for Building a B2B Marketplace
How to build a B2B marketplace with 10 tips and insights from B2B founders in our portfolio.
Going International With Your Marketplace? Ask These Questions First
Speedinvest's Jeroen Arts discusses how to internationalize a business by offering marketplace founders a three-question framework to ask themselves first.
Generative AI: Platforms, Network Effects, and the Economics of Abundance
Speedinvest venture partner Sameer Singh shares insights on how generative AI companies with network effects could have an impact on networks in adjacent markets.
Bringing Delightful L&D Experiences to SMBs: Our Investment in Simbel
Speedinvest's Jeroen Arts shares why we invested in Simbel and how they're taking care of all your HR learning and development needs.
5 Takeaways from 2022 for Marketplace Startups
Speedinvest's Jeroen Arts shares five takeaways from 2022 for marketplace startups, including why now is a great time to start your business.
What Founders Need to Know About Marketplaces: An Interview With Luca Bocchio
Speedinvest's Paola Vivoli interviews Luca Bocchio on what startup founders need to know when building a marketplace.
What Do Early-Stage Investors Look For? An Interview With Carmen Rico
Speedinvest's Toyosi Ogedengbe chats with Carmen Rico about what early-stage investors look for in founders and startups.
Scaling Up? What Founders Need to Know: An Interview With Manolis Manassakis
Speedinvest's Paola Vivoli interviews Manolis Manassakis on what startup founders need to know when scaling up.
Can Tokens Solve The Cold Start Problem? An Interview with Sameer Singh
Speedinvest interviews Sameer Singh on the cold start problem and why tokens aren’t necessarily the magic solution for every Web3 marketplace.
Want to Be Recession-Proof? It Starts With Self-Awareness
Our Platform+ team share their tips for recession-proofing your business, along with tangible steps you can take now to make sure you’re prepared.
The New Creator Economy: A Guide on Web3 Go-To-Market Tactics and Strategies
Paola Vivoli dives into a guide for founders on go-to-market strategies in the new Web3 Creator Economy.
The New Creator Economy: A Guide to Web3 Creator Platforms
Our Paola Vivoli takes a deep dive into the founder and investor landscape of the booming creator economy.
Micro-SMEs are the Core of Every Emerging Market: Our Investment in Ozé
Ozé brings easy-to-use financial services to micro-SMEs in Nigeria and Ghana, two of the fastest-growing emerging markets in the world.
Logistics: An Interview with Laura Behrens Wu, Founder & CEO at Shippo
We sat down for a chat with Laura Behrens Wu, the Founder & CEO of Shippo, to discuss the future of shipping and ecommerce.
The Creator Economy: An Interview with Rally.io CEO Bremner Morris
Rally.io CEO, Bremner Morris, discusses the creator crypto economy, the new creator-community dynamics, the future of the creator economy, and more.
Fintech-Enabled Marketplaces: An Interview with Pete Flint of NFX
The Speedinvest Marketplaces and Consumer team talks with NFX General Partner Pete Flint about the future of fintech-enabled marketplaces.
Bringing Authenticity and Intimacy Back to Photo-Sharing: Our Investment in Lapse
Lapse is bringing the fun of disposable cameras to the digital age.
Acing Your Marketplace Fundraise: Series A
Practical tips for how to get your Series A marketplace and network effects business pitch deck noticed.
Acing Your Marketplace Fundraise: Seed
Practical tips for how to get your Seed marketplace and network effects business pitch deck noticed.
Acing Your Marketplace Fundraise: Pre-Seed
Practical tips for how to get your pre-Seed marketplace and network effects business pitch deck noticed.
The Priceless Value of a Memory: Our Investment in Smiler
Speedinvest's Jeroen Arts shares why we invested in Smiler and how they're changing the gig economy with their photography service.
Yardlink Brings Budget Saving Transparency to the Trillion-Dollar Construction Industry
Yardlink is a B2B marketplace for the construction industry that digitizes the supply chain of equipment and machine rentals.
Opening the Public Sector: Our Investment in Stotles
Speedinvest's Jeroen Arts shares how Stotles is opening up the public sector by allowing companies of all sizes to access public tender information.
Fueling Digital Commerce in Bangladesh: Our Investment in ShopUp
ShopUp enables offline and online neighborhood mom-and-pop shops to sell through digital, social and retail channels.
Planting the Seeds of Digital Finance: The Value of Timing
Agro.Club is a two-sided marketplace funding farmers and suppliers when they need it most.
Network Effects & Defensibility: Admix Case Study
Network effects and defensibility are two very important success drivers for many startups today — especially marketplaces.
Personalized Coaching Brought to Your Workspace: Our Investment in CoachHub
Speedinvest's Jeroen Arts shares why we invested in CoachHub, a turnkey solution to transform your managers into highly effective, inspiring leaders.
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