Top Amazon aggregator Thrasio files for bankruptcy

Thrasio, an early leader in aggregating Amazon sellers, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a New Jersey court Wednesday.

The company said it had agreed with lenders to shave about $495 million off its debt load. Thrasio said some creditors have committed to provide it with up to $90 million in fresh capital, which it said will go toward ongoing operations, and enable it to keep running brands in its portfolio.

"Thrasio is one of the largest third-party sellers on the Amazon marketplace, and with a strengthened balance sheet and new capital, we will be better equipped to support our brands, scale our infrastructure and enable future opportunities," Thrasio CEO Greg Greeley said in a statement.

Thrasio and other Amazon aggregators raised billions of dollars from investors looking to cash in on the third-party seller rollup craze. Aggregators bought up promising products and storefronts on Amazon, to use their data and operational expertise to turbocharge sales. But the hype began to fizzle last year as the pandemic ended, e-commerce growth slowed and economic uncertainty increased.

Thrasio, which ranked 40th on the 2022 CNBC Disruptor 50 list, raised $3.4 billion. The company at one point eyed going public through a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, but the plans were shelved due to a complicated auditing process, CNBC previously reported.

The company laid off about 20% of its employees in 2022 and saw several executives depart, including co-founder Josh Silberstein. That year it named Greeley, a 19-year veteran of Amazon who oversaw the development of its Prime loyalty program, as its CEO, succeeding co-founder Carlos Cashman, who remains a member of Thrasio's board.

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