Startup Unicorn Diligence Research Report: Ankorstore
The investment case depends on whether Ankorstore converted its 2020-2022 hypergrowth and buyer-friendly terms into durable, profitable marketplace liquidity. Public evidence supports scale and brand/retailer value proposition; non-public diligence must validate active cohorts, margins, credit losses, current valuation and post-2022 organizational capacity.
Startup Unicorn Diligence Research Report: Ankorstore
Ankorstore is publicly supportable as an active French-founded private unicorn in B2B wholesale marketplaces, with strong evidence for its 2022 Series C, investor syndicate, European marketplace scale and active product/legal web presence. The key diligence posture is high public proof of financing narrative but low public proof of current financial quality, customer concentration, unit economics, credit risk, headcount health and legal exposure.
Public sources show financing and scale, but not revenue, GMV, gross margin, burn, cash, working-capital usage, credit losses or forecasts.
Diligence request: Request audited statements, management accounts, KPI definitions, cash runway model, budget-vs-actuals and credit-loss/cohort reports.
Faire, Orderchamp, Creoate and offline wholesale channels offer similar assortment, buyer financing or risk-reduction propositions.
Diligence request: Benchmark take rate, CAC, retention, buyer overlap, SKU exclusivity, NPS and contribution margin against direct competitors.
Retailer payment deferrals, brands paid on delivery, and assignment of receivables imply credit, funding, recourse and accounting complexity.
Diligence request: Obtain payment-partner agreements, credit policy, receivables aging, default/loss history, insurance/guarantee arrangements and accounting memos.
The public valuation anchors are from 2022 amid rapid-growth fundraising; current revenue, profitability, down-round risk and secondary-market pricing are not public.
Diligence request: Request latest cap table, 409A/fair-value work, financing docs, investor updates, secondary trades and board-approved plan.
No brand commission, price matching, low order minimums and deferred payment terms may require subsidies, financing costs or alternative monetization.
Diligence request: Request unit-economics waterfall, take-rate by product, gross margin by cohort, subsidy/discount policy, payment costs and CAC/payback.
Public people signals moved from 400 employees in 2022 to a current profile listing 130 employees, with a 2023 report title indicating planned cuts.
Diligence request: Request monthly headcount by function/location, attrition, regretted-loss list, engagement surveys, hiring plan and restructuring documents.
European marketplace operations, privacy policies, data-processing agreements, integrator terms and payment flows create GDPR, consumer/commercial law and payments obligations.
Diligence request: Request counsel compliance memo, DPA register, DPIAs, regulator correspondence, payment-services analysis and country-by-country legal review.
Public terms reference delivery, returns, payment terms, receivables assignment, liability and governing law, but full risk allocation is not analyzed here.
Diligence request: Have counsel review current customer/brand terms, payment partner agreements, fulfilment contracts, claims history and indemnity/limitation clauses.
Public evidence strongly verifies Ankorstore's funding path and unicorn valuation but does not disclose the financial statements, forecasts, cap table details, cash runway, unit economics or credit-loss data needed for investment-grade financial diligence.
not publicly verifiable confidence: high
Public sources do not disclose audited annual or quarterly financial statements for the past three years. Evidence is limited to financing announcements, high-level growth metrics and public legal status.
| Financial area | Public evidence status | Observed public evidence | Required diligence material |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue / GMV / net revenue | not_publicly_verifiable | Funding announcements report sales-volume growth and marketplace scale, not revenue or GMV. | Audited income statements, management revenue bridge, GMV-to-net-revenue reconciliation. |
| Gross margin / take rate | not_publicly_verifiable | Homepage says brands pay no commission; monetization/take-rate not disclosed. | Take-rate by product, fees, discounts/subsidies, gross margin waterfall. |
| Burn / runway / cash balance | not_publicly_verifiable | Only financing proceeds are public. | Cash balance, monthly burn, runway model, debt covenants and board budget. |
| Credit losses / receivables aging | not_publicly_verifiable | Deferred payments and receivables assignment are public; loss metrics are not. | Aging schedule, default/loss rates, reserves, underwriting policy, partner recourse. |
| Forecasts and budget achievement | not_publicly_verifiable | No public forecast or budget-vs-actual reporting found. | Board-approved plan, historical budget accuracy, sensitivity cases. |
This table intentionally marks unavailable facts as not_publicly_verifiable.
not publicly verifiable confidence: high
No public financial projections, plan assumptions or budget-vs-actual performance were identified.
partially verified confidence: high
Unicorn status and funding history are well supported by public sources, but current cap table, ownership, preferences and post-2022 valuation are not public.
| Milestone | Date | Amount | Lead or named investors | Public scale disclosed | Diligence interpretation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seed | 2019-12 | €6M | Global Founders Capital, Alven, Aglaé Ventures | Company launched weeks earlier; hiring planned in development, business development and customer support. | Confirms early investor base and rapid fundraising after launch. |
| Series A | 2020-11 | €25M | Index Ventures led; existing investors participated | 2,000 brands; 15,000 independent shops; 8 European markets; 20x sales increase Feb-Oct 2020. | Shows early network growth but not retention or revenue quality. |
| Series B | 2021-05 | $100M / reported €82M | Tiger Global and Bain Capital Ventures led; Index, GFC, Alven, Aglaé participated | 5,000 brands; 50,000 retailers; business tripled in first four months of 2021. | Bridges Series A to C growth; definitions of business/tripling are not public. |
| Series C / unicorn | 2022-01 | €250M | BOND and Tiger Global led; Eurazeo, Coatue and existing investors participated | 200,000 retailers; 15,000 brands; 23 countries; 950% sales-volume increase 2020-2021; ~400 employees. | Core unicorn evidence; also sets high benchmark for current performance review. |
| CB Insights unicorn listing | 2022-01-10 | Valuation $1.98B | Global Founders Capital, Aglae Ventures, Alven Capital listed by CB Insights | France / Paris / Consumer & Retail. | Independent market database confirms unicorn status but not current valuation. |
Amounts are headline public announcements; currency conversions and terms require financing documents.
| Item | Publicly verified evidence | Not publicly verified | Risk relevance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Named seed investors | Global Founders Capital, Alven and Aglaé Ventures in seed round. | Ownership percentages, share class, liquidation preference. | Early preferences and pro rata rights can affect economics. |
| Growth investors | Index, Tiger Global, Bain Capital Ventures, BOND, Eurazeo and Coatue named across rounds. | Board seats, veto rights, redemption rights, protective provisions. | Investor rights may constrain strategic exits or future financing. |
| Cap table and option pool | No detailed cap table found in public sources. | Fully diluted shares, option pool, founder ownership, employee grants. | Dilution, incentive alignment and preference stack are central to valuation. |
| Debt/credit facilities | Deferred-payment model and receivables assignment imply financing infrastructure. | Facility providers, limits, recourse, covenants, collateral, default history. | Working-capital constraints may limit growth or create downside exposure. |
Investor names do not equal a complete capitalization table.
Series B y-value uses Retail Systems reported €82M equivalent; original headline also reported as $100M.
partially verified confidence: medium
Other financial diligence focuses on receivables, working capital, payment-partner exposure and unit economics because public terms emphasize deferred payments and brand-friendly pricing.
Ankorstore's public product is an active B2B wholesale marketplace with buyer financing, supplier-friendly terms and adjacent support/legal artifacts for ads, leads, integrations and fulfilment; usage, margin and roadmap evidence remain private.
verified confidence: high
The public product is a European wholesale marketplace with catalog discovery, retailer payment terms, brand distribution, support and emerging ads/leads/integration/fulfilment artifacts.
| Surface | Primary user | Public evidence | Diligence implication |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wholesale marketplace and catalog | Retailers and brands | Homepage markets 30,000 European brands and categories including Home & Kitchen, Food & Drinks, Beauty & Wellness, Baby & Kids, Jewellery, Fashion & Accessories, Stationery & Hobbies. | Verify active SKU count, active brands, catalog quality and category economics. |
| Retailer purchasing and payment terms | Retailers | Low minimum order value and deferred payments in 30, 60 or 90 days. | Verify eligibility, approval rates, default rates and finance-provider terms. |
| Brand distribution and payments | Brands | Alven reports brands are paid on delivery and can access European retailers. | Verify brand activation, retention, service levels and payment economics. |
| Support/help center | Retailers and brands | Public help center has retailer and brand collections. | Review support SLAs, ticket volume, dispute/returns workflows and languages. |
| Ads/leads/integrations/fulfilment extensions | Brands and integrators | Terms collection references Sponsored Products, My Network DPA, integrator terms, MyLeads terms and Ankorstore Fulfilment sale terms. | Verify product revenue, data use, fulfilment reliability and technical dependencies. |
Public product evidence is strong for existence, weak for usage and economics.
| Term or claim | Evidence | Potential advantage | Hidden-risk question |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30,000 European brands | Homepage claim. | Broad assortment and SEO/category depth. | How many are active, exclusive, revenue-producing and quality-vetted? |
| No brand commission / price match | Homepage pricing/value proposition. | Lowers supply-side friction and retailer price risk. | What monetization replaces commission and how much subsidy is required? |
| €100 minimum order and low minimum order value | Alven and homepage. | Reduces trial barrier for independent retailers. | Do fulfilment/payment costs overwhelm small order margin? |
| 30/60/90-day deferred payments; brands paid on delivery | Homepage and Alven. | Improves buyer cash flow and supplier trust. | Who bears default risk, financing cost and working-capital requirements? |
| Receivables assignment to payment partner | Brand terms heading. | May externalize financing and collections infrastructure. | Are receivables sold with recourse, what covenants apply, and are customers notified? |
Terms should be reconciled to current legal agreements and accounting treatment.
Public materials show large aggregate brand/retailer counts and a broad marketplace footprint, but customer concentration, revenue by customer, strategic relationships, severed relationships and top suppliers are not publicly verifiable.
partially verified confidence: medium
Public evidence supports large aggregate retailer and brand counts, but top customers by application are not disclosed.
| Evidence type | Public detail | Source | Diligence implication |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retailer count | 15,000 shops at Series A, 50,000 retailers at Series B, 200,000 retailers at Series C. | Investor announcements. | Need active buyer definitions, cohort retention and GMV/revenue by cohort. |
| Brand count | 2,000 brands at Series A, 5,000 at Series B, 15,000 at Series C, 30,000 on current homepage. | Investor announcements and homepage. | Need active brands, exclusivity, quality vetting and category concentration. |
| Public named brand example | Homepage included public example brand BANWOOD among featured brands. | Company homepage. | Named examples are marketing proof points, not top-account evidence. |
| Strategic customer or partner contracts | No named top customers, strategic customers or enterprise partner contracts verified. | Public-source review. | Request customer contract schedule and strategic-account revenue. |
| Marketplace connections | Alven reported 2.5M brand-retailer connections at Series C. | Alven Series C. | Define connection and link to repeat purchase/revenue. |
Aggregate marketplace counts are not customer-concentration evidence.
Counts are public claims with unknown active-account definitions.
not publicly verifiable confidence: high
No named strategic customer or partner relationships were publicly verified beyond investor syndicate, legal/payment mechanisms and aggregate marketplace metrics.
not publicly verifiable confidence: high
Revenue by customer is not publicly verifiable; aggregate scale counts do not answer concentration or credit-risk questions.
| Checklist area | Public status | Why it matters | Required request |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top customers by application | not_publicly_verifiable | Large retailer or brand concentration could drive revenue despite broad aggregate counts. | Top 25 retailers/brands by GMV and net revenue by year, with churn/retention. |
| Revenue by customer | not_publicly_verifiable | Revenue concentration, bad debt and gross-margin variance cannot be inferred from account counts. | Revenue, gross margin, receivables aging and credit losses by top customer/cohort. |
| Strategic relationships severed | not_publicly_verifiable | Lost payment, logistics or marketplace partners could impair operations. | List of terminated customer, supplier, financing, fulfilment and technology relationships over two years. |
| Top suppliers/logistics providers | not_publicly_verifiable | Fulfilment, payments and catalog operations may rely on concentrated counterparties. | Top vendors and payment/fulfilment partners, contracts, SLAs, volumes and contingency plans. |
| Payment partner identity and recourse | not_publicly_verifiable | Receivables assignment may transfer or retain default risk and affect cash conversion. | Payment-partner agreement, recourse provisions, collections policy and loss history. |
Use as a request list for III.A-III.E.
not publicly verifiable confidence: high
Significant relationships severed within the last two years are not publicly verifiable.
not publicly verifiable confidence: high
Top suppliers and operational counterparties are not public; the model likely depends on brands, fulfilment services and payment partners.
The digital wholesale marketplace category is competitive and buyer-friendly terms appear replicable. Ankorstore's European focus and public terms must be tested against CAC, retention, exclusivity and unit economics.
partially verified confidence: medium
Ankorstore competes in a crowded digital wholesale marketplace sector against Faire, Orderchamp, Creoate and offline wholesale channels. Public evidence supports positioning but not share, CAC or retention superiority.
| Company/channel | Positioning evidence | Strength vs Ankorstore | Ankorstore diligence question |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ankorstore | European wholesale marketplace, 30,000 brands, deferred payment, price match/no brand commission. | Target company; European category breadth and buyer-friendly terms. | Which products/geographies/categories are profitable and defensible? |
| Faire | Comparable online wholesale marketplace for retailers and brands; net-60/returns positioning in search snippets, but direct mirror blocked. | Likely larger global brand and retailer network; strong US/global awareness. | Quantify retailer/brand overlap, CAC pressure and price/terms competition. |
| Orderchamp | Wholesale platform with 7,000+ brands and categories overlapping Ankorstore. | European wholesale focus and similar independent-retail target. | Compare category depth, country penetration, terms and take rate. |
| Creoate | Wholesale marketplace for independent retailers and brands; over 6,500 independent brands, easy returns, price-match promise and free-shipping claims. | Similar independent-brand pitch and risk-reduction terms. | Assess differentiation in logistics, credit, exclusivity and buyer retention. |
| Legacy distributors, showrooms, trade fairs and direct wholesale | Substitute channel inferred from market structure; not a single verified source. | Established supplier relationships, local trust and offline purchasing habits. | Measure digital adoption, share of wallet and repeat purchasing against offline channels. |
Faire details require manual re-verification due access blocking.
| Basis | Public Ankorstore signal | Competitor signal | Moat test |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assortment breadth | 30,000 European brands; >1M products reported at Series C. | Orderchamp 7,000+ brands; Creoate 6,500+ independent brands. | Active SKUs, exclusivity, category quality, SKU-level sell-through. |
| Retailer liquidity/credit | 30/60/90-day deferred payments; 60-day terms reported at Series C. | Faire positioning includes net-60; Creoate promotes returns/price match. | Approval rate, losses, finance cost, incremental GMV from credit. |
| Brand economics | No commission for brands; brands paid on delivery. | Competitor commission/subscription structures not fully verified. | Brand acquisition cost, retention, paid-product attach, service cost. |
| Fulfilment/operational services | Ankorlogistics/fulfilment terms and logistics trademark signal. | Creoate advertises free shipping/returns; Orderchamp marketplace categories. | Fulfilment attach rate, SLA, claims, unit cost and margin. |
| Data/recommendations/ads/leads | Sponsored Products, MyLeads, integrator terms and data-processing agreement. | Comparable marketplaces likely use recommendations/ads; public details not fully verified. | Ad revenue, conversion lift, data rights, privacy compliance. |
Moat is not established by public sources; it must be quantified.
Scores are analyst estimates based on public positioning, not market-share data.
Public GTM evidence supports category-led marketplace discovery, European expansion and some productized monetization surfaces, but channel performance, major-customer plans, sales productivity and marketing budget ability are private.
partially verified confidence: medium
Public GTM evidence includes category discovery, country expansion, sales/business-development hiring plans, support journeys and newer monetization terms.
| GTM motion | Evidence | Likely KPI | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marketplace SEO/category discovery | Homepage categories and shop directory. | Organic sessions, search ranking, buyer conversion, category GMV. | Traffic may not convert or may be dependent on paid acquisition. |
| Local European expansion | Index Series C. | Country-level CAC, GMV, active buyers/brands, contribution margin. | Localization and support costs may dilute margins. |
| Sales/business-development teams | EU-Startups seed. | Sales productivity, quota attainment, account activation. | Manual onboarding may not scale efficiently. |
| Brand offers/referrals and support journeys | Brand support collection. | Referral CAC, brand activation and repeat orders. | Promotional acquisition may mask organic demand. |
| Sponsored Products / MyLeads | Brand terms collection. | Ad/leads revenue, advertiser retention, ROAS. | Advertising monetization can create marketplace quality and privacy risks. |
GTM evidence is descriptive; productivity economics are not public.
not publicly verifiable confidence: high
Major customers are not public; only aggregate retailer/brand counts and a few marketing examples were verified.
partially verified confidence: medium
Principal avenues for new business appear to include online discovery, local expansion, brand/retailer support journeys, referrals/offers and sponsored-products/leads surfaces.
This figure is a public-scale proxy, not a validated acquisition funnel.
not publicly verifiable confidence: high
Sales-force productivity model is not publicly verifiable.
| Area | Public status | Why it matters | Request |
|---|---|---|---|
| Customer acquisition cost and payback | not_publicly_verifiable | Determines sustainability of marketplace growth and promotional terms. | CAC by channel, payback by cohort, paid/organic mix and brand/retailer acquisition cost. |
| Sales force productivity | not_publicly_verifiable | Manual sales motion may cap scaling and explain headcount changes. | Quota/attainment, ramp time, pipeline conversion, sales headcount and productivity by country. |
| Marketing plan/budget ability | not_publicly_verifiable | Post-unicorn valuation depends on continued efficient growth. | Board-approved marketing budget, historical budget-vs-actuals, growth case and downside case. |
| Major customer plans | not_publicly_verifiable | Enterprise or strategic accounts could dominate GMV or working capital. | Major retailer/brand account plans, pipeline, contract terms and renewal risk. |
| Channel profitability | not_publicly_verifiable | Category/country/channel mix may be loss-making even with strong GMV. | Contribution margin by acquisition channel, country and category. |
Use this table for V.B-V.E follow-up.
not publicly verifiable confidence: high
Ability to implement the marketing plan with current/projected budgets is not public.
R&D diligence is mostly unresolved from public sources. Legal/product artifacts suggest a marketplace with credit, ads/leads, integrations, privacy and fulfilment surfaces, but architecture, security, roadmap and engineering capacity require direct review.
not publicly verifiable confidence: high
The company is legally classified in software/programming activities and public product/legal artifacts imply a multi-module platform, but R&D organization and technical controls are not public.
| Area | Public evidence | Unknown | Diligence request |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal classification | French NAF 62.01Z / 62.10Y indicates software/programming activities. | Actual engineering staffing and product scope. | Engineering headcount by function/location and product-area ownership. |
| Scale-up organization | Index reported growth from 0 to 400 employees by Series C; WTTJ lists 130 current employees. | Current engineering/product headcount and attrition. | Monthly headcount, attrition and roadmap staffing model. |
| Integrations | Terms collection references integrator terms. | API architecture, partner reliability and data rights. | Integration architecture, partner list, API usage and failure/incident metrics. |
| Security and fraud/credit systems | No public security certification, fraud architecture or underwriting model verified. | SOC/ISO status, fraud controls, credit decisioning. | Security audits, fraud-loss history, credit underwriting docs and incident log. |
| Data/privacy engineering | Privacy policy and data-processing agreement are listed. | DPIAs, data retention, model/data rights, privacy incidents. | DPA register, DPIAs, subprocessor list, data map and privacy incident history. |
R&D diligence is mostly gap-driven from public sources.
Inferred from public artifacts; not a company architecture diagram.
partially verified confidence: medium
New product pipeline is not public, though support/legal artifacts indicate sponsored products, MyLeads, integrators and fulfilment initiatives.
| Product/pipeline area | Public signal | Pipeline question | Risk linkage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sponsored products | Specific sponsored-products terms listed. | Is advertising a material monetization pillar and how is ranking quality protected? | Marketplace trust, privacy and margin. |
| MyLeads / My Network | MyLeads terms and My Network DPA listed. | What data is used for lead generation and what consent/legal basis applies? | GDPR and customer trust. |
| Ankorstore Fulfilment / Ankorlogistics | Fulfilment terms and ANKORLOGISTICS trademark record. | Is logistics proprietary, outsourced, profitable and scalable? | Operational reliability and IP/moat. |
| Integrators/API | Terms of use for integrators are listed. | What external systems are integrated and what SLAs/security controls exist? | Technical dependency and data exposure. |
| Core marketplace roadmap | No roadmap or release cadence publicly verified. | Which features drive retention, margin and defensibility over the next 12-24 months? | Roadmap execution and moat. |
Public legal artifacts imply product areas but not roadmap priority or economics.
Public records verify founders, one current legal-president role, auditors and selected headcount signals. The major personnel finding is potential post-2022 contraction, but current org, compensation, equity incentives and turnover must be obtained from HR records.
partially verified confidence: medium
A complete current organization chart is not public. Public records verify founders, one legal president role and auditors.
| Person/entity | Public role/evidence | Source | Diligence question |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pierre-Louis Lacoste | Named founder in Series C article. | Index Ventures. | Confirm current role, equity, employment status and restrictive covenants. |
| Nicolas D’Audiffret | Named founder; French registry lists him as president of SAS. | Index Ventures and French registry. | Confirm current executive duties, board role and authority. |
| Nicolas Cohen | Named founder in Series C article. | Index Ventures. | Confirm current role and departure/retention status if changed. |
| Mathieu Alengrin | Named founder in Series C article. | Index Ventures. | Confirm current role and key-person dependencies. |
| Auditors | French registry lists Poulin Retout et Associés and KPMG S.A. auditors. | French registry. | Obtain audit opinions, scope, management letters and current engagement status. |
| Compensation/stock plans | No public compensation or incentive-stock-plan details verified. | Public-source review. | Request employment contracts, compensation bands, option plan and grants. |
Named founder/current-role status must be confirmed directly.
Not a full current org chart; founders' current reporting lines are not public.
partially verified confidence: medium
Public headcount signals are inconsistent or non-comparable: 400 employees reported in 2022, WTTJ lists 130 employees currently, and official registry has an entity-level employee tranche.
| Signal | Public evidence | Interpretation | Follow-up |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early hiring plan | Seed coverage described plans to hire developers, business developers and customer support. | Initial model required engineering, sales and support capacity. | Historical hiring plan vs actuals. |
| Series C scale-up | Index reported growth from 0 to 400 employees. | Rapid scaling by 2022 may create process and retention risk. | 2022 org chart, hiring quality and attrition. |
| Current employer-profile headcount | Welcome to the Jungle lists 130 employees, average age 33, gender split 42%/58%. | Current public headcount signal is lower than 2022 report, but methodology may differ. | Current HRIS headcount by entity/function/location. |
| Potential 2023 cuts | Business Insider title reported Ankorstore was set to slash roles. | Partially verified restructuring risk. | RIF documents, severance, morale and legal claims. |
| Registry employee tranche | French API lists 2023 employee tranche 22 for legal entity. | Official entity-level field may not equal consolidated group headcount. | Reconcile statutory entity headcount to group HRIS. |
Public headcount figures are not fully comparable; treat as a risk flag, not a final finding.
Do not infer exact attrition without HRIS data.
partially verified confidence: medium
Senior management biographies are partially public for founders, but current roles and broader leadership team are not verified.
not publicly verifiable confidence: high
Compensation arrangements are not public.
not publicly verifiable confidence: high
Incentive stock plans are not public.
unverified confidence: low
Significant employee relations problems are not publicly verifiable, though public signals indicate potential restructuring.
partially verified confidence: medium
Personnel turnover is not publicly quantified; available public signals warrant direct HR diligence.
Legal identity is publicly verified for the French SAS and UK subsidiary, and public terms/privacy/legal collections identify key contract and data surfaces. Litigation, insurance, regulatory, full IP and material-contract schedules remain unresolved.
unverified confidence: low
Pending lawsuits against the company were not verified from public sources.
| Checklist area | Public evidence found | Verification status | Required diligence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pending lawsuits against the company | No material lawsuit schedule found in reviewed public sources; comprehensive court search not performed. | unverified | Counsel litigation schedule, court docket searches and legal letters. |
| Pending lawsuits initiated by the company | No company-initiated lawsuit list found in reviewed public sources. | unverified | Company litigation docket and IP/collections claims schedule. |
| Environmental and employee safety issues | No public evidence of environmental/safety liabilities found; business is software/marketplace classified. | unverified | Workplace safety, warehouse/fulfilment arrangements, claims history and insurance review. |
| Insurance coverage and material exposures | No insurance policy or claims history public. | not_publicly_verifiable | Cyber, E&O, D&O, credit, general liability and employment-practices policies/claims. |
| Regulatory agency problems | Privacy/legal pages exist, but no regulator correspondence or enforcement search was completed. | unverified | Regulator correspondence, CNIL/GDPR inquiries, payment-services analysis and country legal memos. |
Absence of public findings is not evidence of absence.
Heatmap is an analyst prioritization, not legal advice.
unverified confidence: low
Pending lawsuits initiated by the company were not publicly verified.
unverified confidence: low
Environmental and employee safety issues are not publicly verified; marketplace/software classification suggests lower environmental exposure, but fulfilment and workplace issues still require review.
partially verified confidence: medium
Material IP evidence is limited: one Ankorlogistics trademark-related record and public legal/product document families; complete IP, software ownership and license status are not public.
| Artifact | Public evidence | Diligence implication | Next request |
|---|---|---|---|
| ANKORLOGISTICS trademark record | IPRScan lists W01771307, filed by Ankorstore, Nice classes 35/38/39, status Other. | Suggests logistics/fulfilment branding but requires official status verification. | Full trademark portfolio, EUIPO/TMview extracts, assignments and opposition history. |
| Brand General Terms of Use | Headings include delivery, returns, payment, receivables assignment, liability and governing law. | Core marketplace risk allocation and payment mechanics. | Current full terms, historical changes, consumer/commercial-law memo and dispute statistics. |
| Privacy policy and DPA | Privacy collection lists platform privacy policy; terms collection lists My Network DPA. | GDPR/data-processing obligations for marketplace and lead products. | DPIAs, subprocessor list, data map, privacy incidents and regulator correspondence. |
| Sponsored Products / MyLeads / integrator terms | Terms collection lists product-specific terms. | Potential advertising/data monetization and third-party-integration risks. | Revenue by product, customer complaints, ranking/ad policy and API security review. |
| Fulfilment sale terms | Terms collection lists General Terms and Conditions of Sale Ankorstore Fulfilment. | Fulfilment service could create logistics liability and working-capital exposure. | Fulfilment contracts, SLAs, claims, insurance and warehouse/third-party provider agreements. |
This is not a legal opinion; counsel should review full current documents.
not publicly verifiable confidence: high
Insurance coverage and material exposures are not public.
partially verified confidence: medium
Material contracts are only partially visible through public terms; entity status is verified, but customer, supplier, payment and financing contracts are not public.
| Entity/artifact | Public status | Key details | Diligence action |
|---|---|---|---|
| ANKORSTORE SAS | Active French SAS | SIREN 852870658; created 2019-07-22; 101 rue de Sèvres, 75006 Paris; NAF 62.01Z/62.10Y; ETI category. | Obtain Kbis, bylaws, shareholder register, liens and good-standing certificate. |
| French officers/auditors | Registry-listed | Nicolas D’Audiffret listed as SAS president; Poulin Retout et Associés and KPMG S.A. auditors. | Confirm current appointments, audit scope and management letters. |
| ANKORSTORE LIMITED | Active UK private limited company | Company number 13421853; incorporated 26 May 2021; registered office in London; last accounts made up to 31 Dec 2024. | Obtain UK accounts, ownership and intercompany agreements. |
| Legal information collection | Public legal-info collection exists | Support collection links legal information, website terms and privacy collection. | Counsel to review current terms, legal notices and local-law compliance. |
| Private-company status | Partially verified | Active registries and unicorn database listing; no public IPO/acquisition/shutdown evidence found in reviewed sources. | Run counsel-grade M&A, insolvency and UBO searches. |
Corporate-group completeness is not established by public sources.
unverified confidence: low
Regulatory agency problems are not publicly verified; privacy and legal policy pages exist but do not prove compliance or absence of inquiries.
| ID | Claim | Status | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| EC-001 | CB Insights lists Ankorstore as a French unicorn with a $1.98B valuation and January 2022 unicorn date. | verified high | SRC-001 |
| EC-002 | Ankorstore currently markets itself as a wholesale marketplace with 30,000 European brands, price-match policy, no brand commission and deferred retailer payment terms. | verified high | SRC-002 |
| EC-003 | Ankorstore describes itself as a French company founded in 2019 with a mission to transform how brands and retailers work together across Europe. | verified high | SRC-003 |
| EC-004 | The January 2022 Series C raised €250M at a reported €1.75B valuation, with 200,000 retailers, 15,000 brands, 23 countries, 950% 2020-2021 sales-volume growth, and approximately 400 employees reported. | verified high | SRC-004 |
| EC-005 | Alven's Series C article reports more than 1M products, 2.5M brand-retailer connections, a €100 minimum order per brand, 60-day reseller payment terms, and brands paid on delivery by Ankorstore. | verified high | SRC-005 |
| EC-006 | Retail Systems independently confirms the €250M Series C, approximate €1.75B valuation, Series B amount, 200,000 retailers, 15,000 brands, and ~400 employees/offices. | verified medium | SRC-006 |
| EC-007 | Ankorstore's seed round was €6M, led/co-led by Global Founders Capital, Alven and Aglaé Ventures shortly after launch. | verified high | SRC-007SRC-010 |
| EC-008 | The Series A was publicly reported as €25M led by Index Ventures with 2,000 brands, 15,000 independent shops, 8 markets, and 20x sales growth from February to October 2020. | verified medium | SRC-008 |
| EC-009 | The Series B was publicly reported as $100M led by Tiger Global and Bain Capital Ventures, with 5,000 brands, 50,000 retailers and tripling of business in early 2021. | verified medium | SRC-009 |
| EC-010 | The French registry identifies ANKORSTORE as active SAS SIREN 852870658, created 2019-07-22, headquartered at 101 rue de Sèvres, Paris, with NAF 62.01Z/62.10Y, ETI category, Nicolas D'Audiffret as president, and KPMG/Poulin Retout auditors. | verified high | SRC-011 |
| EC-011 | A public employer profile lists Ankorstore as founded in 2019 with 130 employees, 42%/58% gender split and average age 33. | verified medium | SRC-012 |
| EC-012 | Ankorstore operates a public help center with separate retailer and brand collections. | verified high | SRC-013 |
| EC-013 | Ankorstore's public Brand Terms include order delivery, customer-service/returns, payment terms, assignment of receivables, brand ratings, obligations/warranties, liability, and governing law/jurisdiction headings. | verified medium | SRC-014 |
| EC-014 | Public legal/privacy collections list Ankorstore website terms, legal information, privacy policy, data-processing agreement, sponsored-products terms, integrator terms, MyLeads terms and fulfilment sale terms. | verified medium | SRC-015SRC-016SRC-017 |
| EC-015 | Public competitor pages position Orderchamp as a wholesale platform with 7,000+ brands, Creoate as a wholesale marketplace with 6,500+ independent brands and free-shipping/returns promises, and Faire as a comparable online wholesale marketplace with net-60/returns positioning. | partially verified medium | SRC-018SRC-019SRC-020 |
| EC-016 | A third-party trademark page lists ANKORLOGISTICS (W01771307) as a word mark filed by Ankorstore covering Nice classes 35, 38 and 39 at EUIPO, but a complete IP portfolio was not verified. | partially verified medium | SRC-021 |
| EC-017 | UK Companies House lists ANKORSTORE LIMITED (company number 13421853) as an active private limited company incorporated 26 May 2021. | verified high | SRC-023 |
| EC-018 | Public people signals show potential post-unicorn contraction: 400 employees were reported in 2022, a 2023 Business Insider title reported planned cuts, and a current employer profile lists 130 employees. | partially verified medium | SRC-004SRC-012SRC-022 |
| EC-019 | Audited financial statements, quarterly financials, GMV/revenue, gross margin, burn, cash balance, forecasts, credit losses and unit economics were not publicly verified. | not publicly verifiable high | SRC-001SRC-004SRC-005SRC-006 |
| EC-020 | The detailed cap table, liquidation preferences, option pool, SAFEs/convertibles, debt, warrants and secondary transactions are not publicly verifiable. | not publicly verifiable high | SRC-004SRC-005SRC-006SRC-007SRC-008SRC-009 |
| EC-021 | Top customers, revenue by customer, strategic customer contracts and churn/severed relationships are not publicly verifiable. | not publicly verifiable high | SRC-002SRC-004SRC-005 |
| EC-022 | Top suppliers, logistics providers, payment partners, supplier concentration and severed supplier relationships are not publicly verifiable. | not publicly verifiable high | SRC-005SRC-014SRC-015 |
| EC-023 | R&D organization, engineering headcount, architecture, security certifications and product roadmap were not publicly verifiable. | not publicly verifiable high | SRC-011SRC-015 |
| EC-024 | Compensation arrangements, incentive stock plans, full senior-management biographies and projected headcount are not publicly verifiable. | not publicly verifiable high | SRC-011SRC-012SRC-004 |
| EC-025 | Pending lawsuits, company-initiated lawsuits, insurance coverage, environmental/safety liabilities and regulatory-agency problems were not fully publicly verifiable in reviewed sources. | unverified low | SRC-011SRC-016SRC-017 |
| EC-026 | Based on reviewed public sources, Ankorstore appears to be an active private unicorn; no public evidence of IPO, acquisition or shutdown was identified. | partially verified medium | SRC-001SRC-002SRC-011SRC-023 |
| EC-027 | Deferred-payment terms and receivables assignment create credit, funding, legal and accounting diligence questions. | verified medium | SRC-002SRC-005SRC-014 |
| EC-028 | No-brand-commission and price-match positioning may pressure take rate, subsidy levels and contribution margin. | verified medium | SRC-002SRC-005 |
This report is a public-evidence diligence snapshot, not investment advice. Important financial, legal, technical, and contractual facts remain non-public and should be verified directly with management and primary documents before any investment decision.