Bizbuyer.com
closedBusiness-to-business e-commerce platform for small to mid-size businesses.
| Date | Investors | Amount | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| investor | €0.0 | round | |
| investor | €0.0 | round | |
| investor | €0.0 | round | |
| investor | €0.0 | round | |
N/A | Seed | ||
| Total Funding | 000k | ||
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Bizbuyer.com was a dot-com era entity founded in 1998 by Bernard Louvat, headquartered in the Los Angeles area. The company established itself as a business-to-business (B2B) online marketplace, specifically designed to serve small and mid-sized businesses. Its core function was to facilitate a reverse auction process, creating a platform where businesses could solicit competitive bids from a network of vendors for various products and services.
By December 1999, the platform had aggregated approximately 15,000 vendors across 53 different product and service categories. The business model centered on connecting buyers with these vendors, streamlining the procurement process for smaller companies. Bizbuyer.com's market position was bolstered by strategic partnerships with companies like BigVine.com, an online B2B barter exchange, and OhGolly.com, which assisted businesses in developing their online presence.
The company demonstrated significant traction in attracting investment capital, securing a total of $44.5 million over four funding rounds. The initial seed round occurred in May 1999, followed by a Series B in June 1999. Its investor roster included prominent venture capital firms such as Redpoint Ventures, Morgan Stanley, USVP, and Tech Coast Angels. However, despite its early funding success, Bizbuyer.com ultimately became a deadpooled company. In a development typical of the period, the company's assets, including its brand name, URLs, and membership list, were acquired by smarterwork, a B-to-B services outsourcing company, on February 14, 2001. Following the acquisition, smarterwork planned to co-brand the site and integrate services like reverse auctions while removing previous sales minimums.
Keywords: B2B marketplace, reverse auction, small business procurement, dot-com era, business services, online marketplace, vendor network, procurement platform, Redpoint Ventures, Morgan Stanley investment, smarterwork acquisition, Bernard Louvat, business-to-business e-commerce, deadpooled, asset acquisition