Post by Chris Erwin
Founder, RockWater | M&A & Strategy for Creator Economy | 3x Founder Helping Founders Exit
Amazon Associates pays creators 1β4%. Levanta pays ~20%. That spread built an entire industry. This week Levanta acquired π£π²πΏπ°π΅+ β an affiliate network born inside a $908M Amazon aggregator that survived two mergers and an industry shakeout. A 3-year-old startup. Absorbing infrastructure from the pandemic era's most well-funded aggregators. The numbers: β’ $15B+ raised by Amazon aggregators, 2020β2023 β’ Thrasio β Chapter 11 β’ ShopMy β $1.5B valuation β’ Later paid $250M for Mavely β’ $1B+ in creator-affiliate M&A in 18 months Power is shifting from owning brands to owning the infrastructure that connects sellers to creators. Full breakdown in this week's RockWater Industries newsletter π
