Jet.com has yet to sell anything, but has already raised hundreds of millions on the idea that its CEO and founder Marc Lore can reinvent retail once again.
On Wednesday, the Montclair, N.J.-based e-commerce startup announced it had obtained $140 million in a round led by Bain Capital. The news was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, which pegged the companies valuation to be nearly $600 million according to sources. The investment brings Jet's total venture funding to about $220 million after it raised $55 million in July and about $25 million of debt financing in September.
Though the company has yet to launch, it has gained a large amount of attention, namely due to the previous success of Lore, who created Quidsi and sold it to
"We're using this money to invest in the value proposition to the customer," Lore told FORBES on Thursday. "It's more dollars to invest across the board from product to market to infrastructure and operations."
Jet's CEO declined to comment on the valuation of his business.
With 130 employees, Jet.com is expected to launch to a select group of "insiders" next month, while the full site will be open to the public by late spring. The company recently closed its early membership program, which obtained about 352,000 sign ups, said Lore.
In previous conversations, Lore described Jet as a membership program that will partner with retailers to save customers the most money possible while shopping online. The company will generate revenue through $50 memberships, which will give them access to a marketplace of goods from partners including electronics seller TigerDirect.com and the Sony Store.
While there was early talk of Jet.com raising as much as $600 million, Lore said those statements were taken out of context.
"That was never meant to be contemplated as an early raise figure," he said. "I don't have any more plans to raise more capital."
Bain Capital Ventures, which invested previously, led the round and was joined by Accel Partners, Coatue, General Catalyst, Goldman Sachs, Google Ventures, MentorTech Ventures, NEA, Norwest Venture Partners, Silicon Valley Bank, Temasek, Thrive Capital and others.
