This NYC Startup is Ushering in The Age of Online Marketplaces

Surprise surprise, e-commerce is only getting bigger with time, and the sooner you can get your brand connected with retailers, the faster you can get in on what so many other companies are already doing. The solution? RevCascade the marketplace automation platform is helping you grow your channel without jumping through all the hoops of integration. With a round of funding already under their belt, RevCascade is looking out for your brand and the future of your distribution channels

AlleyWatch sits down with cofounders Josh Wexler and Andrea Tobin to discuss how they are changing the playing field in a time of much change.

Tell us about the product or service.
RevCascade’s marketplace automation platform enables brands and retailers to easily leverage the massive and growing $700 billion global online marketplace channel. By automating what was previously a manual and inefficient process, brands can easily plug in to hundreds of e-commerce sites through one integration, while also enabling retailers to launch, operate, and scale their own marketplaces.

How is it different?
Current technology solutions for connecting brands and retailers in an online marketplace are fraught with problems and are holding the market back. Brands are forced to identify, register, integrate with and manage each individual marketplace separately, while repetitively uploading brand and product information to each one. It’s time-consuming and inefficient. RevCascade removes all of the friction involved in the process, from integrations to product, inventory and transaction management.  We’ve developed a turnkey solution for marketplace automation between any brand and any retailer, and we do it without any upfront or integration fees.
What market are you attacking and how big is it?
We are focused on online marketplaces, which are commonly referred to by traditional retailers as “drop ship” or “vendor direct” programs. They represent a large and growing segment of the $1.3 trillion global e-commerce market, with marketplaces such as Alibaba, Amazon, and Ebay generating more than $700 billion in retail sales. We believe every retailer will launch a marketplace in the near future – there are already over 100 retailer marketplaces that have launched – and we are on a mission to help brands and retailers embrace marketplaces and flourish in the future.
What is the business model?
RevCascade generates a transaction fee for products sold via the use of our platform. There are zero upfront or integration fees.

What inspired the business?
We originally conceived of the idea as we were building designer handbag brand Marla Cielo, which was being approached by numerous fashion marketplaces to sell via drop shipping. When we discovered how manual and inefficient it was to work with multiple marketplaces, we recognized that a technology solution could not only help Marla Cielo, but could also benefit the overall market to help it grow.
Can existing retailers integrate your offering or are they required to replace their existing marketplace solutions?
RevCascade integrates with a retailers existing infrastructure. If a retailer already runs a marketplace, there is no need to rip out current systems. On the other hand, if a retailer is looking to launch a marketplace, they can utilize RevCascade to power it.
What are the milestones that you plan to achieve within six months?
We are rapidly scaling and will enable millions of dollars in monthly retail sales within the six months.
What is the one piece of startup advice that you never got?
The one piece of advice I would give is that a great startup is born out of need, not out of the desire to start a company or become an entrepreneur.
If you could be put in touch with anyone in the New York community who would it be and why?
There are so many amazing people in the NYC community we would love to meet, ranging from Michael Bloomberg, who built the first platform that enabled Wall Street to flourish, to legendary merchant and J Crew CEO Mickey Drexler, to New York Senator Kirsten Gillenbrand, who fights the good fight for the people of New York every day and indirectly had a huge impact on RevCascade.
Why did you launch in New York?
New York City is the capital of the world. It is the perfect intersection of retail and technology. Plus, if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.
What’s your favorite rooftop bar in NYC to unwind?
Our favorite rooftop bar is the rooftop of RevCascade Headquarters on Broadway between 28^th & 29^th St.