D2C e-commerce startup MarketLeap snags $8 million Series A funding round led by Smedvig Ventures

MarketLeap, an AI driven platform that aims to simplify and scale D2C e-commerce, has announced an $8 million Series A funding round led by Smedvig Ventures, with participation from Expon Capital, Motier Ventures and business angels including former executives from Amazon, SoftBank, and Unilever. 

The capital injection will allow the company to accelerate platform development and invest in new employees.

MarketLeap offers customers - including Edible Health, 5 Stars United, and MonkeyHands - a platform solution that uses AI powered automation to navigate the complexities of marketplace operations and backend management. It combines a tech solution with partnerships with marketplaces, third-party logistics (3PL) providers, compliance experts, and finance partners.

The company was founded in 2022 by Mamoun Benkirane and Mekki Mouaddeb, who both previously worked for Amazon and Jumia. The inspiration for MarketLeap came when the former led a webinar for Amazon sellers about expanding into new markets and found himself inundated with emails complaining about the complexity of the process and tools provided. Concurrently, the latter found that while many sellers demonstrate exceptional strengths in sourcing profitable products, they face significant challenges in scaling their operations internationally.

Upon realising more than 90% of sellers with revenues over half a million make more than 80% of their revenue in just one market, the pair launched an e-commerce operating system that uses AI and automation to help brands break through barriers to international expansion by connecting them with global marketplace customers.

Jessika Nilsson, Chief Operations Officer, Edible Health, says: “MarketLeap goes beyond being a KPI dashboard or global distributor. It is a partner that supports all areas of international marketplace ecommerce operations, powered by data driven insights. The company invests in its customers’ growth and the technology, combined with this unique ‘skin in the game’ approach, makes it the perfect partner for confidently and smoothly selling worldwide.”

Since its $2.7 million cumulative seed round, MarketLeap has enhanced its platform functionality in key areas such as inventory management and pricing by leveraging automation and LLMs. Third-party integration has also been revamped, and the platform now ingests and processes more data in a day than it did in its first year.

By the end of 2024, the company had seen a 340% year-on-year growth in customer numbers and expanded to a team of 13 with eight new members set to join in early 2025, including two ex-Amazon leaders stepping into MarketLeap’s first Vice President roles.

The firm will double down on its US presence this year, helping American brands overcome the fragmentation and intricacies of selling to European customers. This development will be underpinned by a drive for talent, including in its new Madrid and New York City offices.

Benkirane says: “While Amazon prides itself on being a customer obsessed business, the reality for sellers is far more challenging. Data and reports are fragmented and incomplete, making actionable insights difficult to obtain. Tools are either limited or overly complex, and accounts are often suspended at the slightest sign of compliance issues.”

“We pride ourselves on being seller obsessed. Our platform simplifies marketplace operations by leveraging automation and AI, allowing brands to focus on their D2C strategy and products. By handling the operational complexities, we empower brands to overcome the barriers of global ecommerce and unlock their full potential.”

Mouaddeb comments: “The post-Covid era of e-commerce has seen the emergence of many models to help brands grow, but most either sideline the brand owner as the key product driver or offer SaaS tools that fail to address the core issue: time spent navigating marketplace complexities. Our model solves this by saving time while keeping the brand owner as the product manager.”

Joe Knowles, Partner at Smedvig Ventures, says: “Marketplaces are booming globally as they become an important channel for brands’ e-commerce sales. But as competition for brands heightens, so too does the complexity and the sophistication required to make investment in this channel a success.”

“MarketLeap’s expertise, backed by a powerful in-house automation stack, drives a step change in performance which enables its customers to thrive. Coming out of Amazon and Jumia, Mamoun and Mekki are uniquely placed to create the winner in this space and their automation stack is already outperforming the best marketplace teams and agencies.”

2025 RTIH INNOVATION AWARDS

E-commerce will be a key focus area at the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards. which will open for entries in March, celebrate global tech innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our 2024 hall of fame entrants were revealed during an event which took place at RIBA’s 66 Portland Place HQ in Central London on 21st November, and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by comedian Lucy Porter.

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “The event is now into its sixth year and what a journey it has been. The awards started life as an online only affair during the Covid outbreak, before launching as a small scale in real life event and growing year on year to the point where we’re now selling out this fine, historic venue.”

He added: “Congratulations to all of our finalists. Many submissions did not make it through to the final stage, and getting to this point is no mean feat. Checkout-free stores, automated supply chains, immersive experiences, on-demand delivery, next generation loyalty offerings, inclusive retail, green technology. We’ve got all the cool stuff covered this evening.”

“But just importantly we’ve got lots of great examples of companies taking innovative tech and making it usable in everyday operations - resulting in more efficiency and profitability in all areas.”

Congratulations to our 2024 winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Lucy Porter, and all those who attended November's gathering. 

For further information on the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards, please fill in the below form and we will get back to you asap.