# Olsam Financial Model Acquires, operates, and grows Amazon Marketplace third-party seller businesses via a roll-up strategy. - Canonical: https://finamodel.com/startups/olsam - Excel download: https://finamodel.com/startup-models/olsam.xlsx - Category: Marketplace - Model type: SaaS ARR / Valuation - Funding round: Series A - Funding: $165M - Founded: 2021 - Geography: UK-headquartered; initially UK-focused acquisitions, with stated expansion intent into US and continental Europe. [DECK slide 7] - Customer: B2B ## About the company Olsam acquires and operates third-party Amazon seller businesses through a portfolio roll-up strategy. It creates value through acquisition multiple arbitrage, shared operating services, supply-chain improvement, product expansion, and international growth across the brands it owns. The deck's disclosed Peak Coffee deal grew revenue from £592,000 to £954,000 and SDE from £78,000 to £211,000 before acquisition at 3.2 times SDE plus an earn-out. Olsam earns the operating profit of acquired businesses rather than a platform subscription or transaction fee. The model is an acquisition holding-company build. Deal pipeline, purchase price, seller earnings, earn-outs, debt or equity funding, and post-close brand cohorts feed a consolidated P&L. Revenue growth, Amazon fees, COGS, central operating costs, margin expansion, and exit multiple determine portfolio IRR and cash requirements. ## What's included - 5-year monthly revenue build with stage-appropriate growth assumptions - Full P&L, headcount plan, and operating-expense schedule - Cash-flow statement, runway, and burn-rate tracking - Valuation via exit multiple with a DCF cross-check - Returns analysis with MOIC and IRR - Unit economics including CAC, LTV, payback, and cohort retention ## Product & value proposition Olsam is not a product company - it is an acquisition platform. Value is created via: 1. **Multiple arbitrage**: buy at 2.0–4.5x SDE, exit at 10–20x (large eCommerce peer multiples). 2. **Operational improvement**: shared services (branding, PPC, SEO, product, back-office), demand planning, supply-chain optimisation. 3. **Top-line growth**: geographic expansion, brand overhaul, product line extension; target >2x growth per brand within 2–3 years. 4. **Proprietary tech stack**: deal-sourcing platform scanning the entire Amazon marketplace for acquisition targets. ## Market - Amazon Marketplace GMV: $295 billion in 2020; would rank top 50 economies globally. - 3P share of Amazon GMV: grew from 3% (1999) to >60% (2020). - YoY growth of Amazon Marketplace: +48% vs 2019 (+$95 billion). - >1.4 million individual 3P seller businesses on Amazon. - >35,000 sellers with >$1m turnover across US, Germany, UK alone. - CPG industry TAM framing: $6 trillion consumer goods GMV on Amazon (future ambition framing, not current market). - SAM/SOM: Not explicitly defined in deck. ## Revenue model Olsam makes money at the portfolio company level - it owns the acquired brands outright and earns their operating profit. No SaaS/subscription or fee model. **Acquired brand P&L structure (typical, per deck):** - Net Revenue: £0.5–2m per brand - COGS (landed cost): 20–30% of revenue - Amazon fees (commission + fulfilment + PPC ads): 45% of revenue - Other Opex (software, 3PL warehouse, legals): 5% of revenue - SDE (Seller Discretionary Earnings): 20–30% of revenue **Acquisition economics:** - Entry multiple: 2.0–4.5x SDE - Exit multiple target: 10–20x (large eCommerce comps) - Earn-out structures used (evidenced by Peak Coffee deal). ## Traction & metrics **Peak Coffee - only closed deal disclosed:** - Revenue 2019: £592k - Revenue 2020: £954k - Revenue growth 2019→2020: +60% - SDE 2019: £78k - SDE 2020: £211k - SDE margin 2019: ~13%; 2020: ~22% - Acquired at 3.2x SDE + earn-out - Product rank: 2nd in market; >3,500 reviews; avg rating 4.8 No portfolio-level aggregate revenue, EBITDA, or number-of-acquisitions figures are disclosed. Deck appears to be a very early raise (August 2021, at or before first closed deal). ## Unit economics - No CAC/LTV framing in the deck (not a subscriber business). - SDE margin range at acquisition: 20–30% of net revenue. - Implied deal ROI: at 3.2x SDE entry and target 10–20x exit, gross equity return 3–6x on the SDE multiple alone, before growth. - No hold-period, IRR, or MOIC targets disclosed. ## Competition / moat - **Named competitor / proof of concept**: Thrasio (US); described as "fastest-ever profitable unicorn, latest valuation >$2 billion". - Olsam's stated differentiators vs. other acquirers: - "Only acquirer with true Amazon DNA" - 20+ years combined Amazon exec experience. - Proprietary deal-sourcing tech platform. - Established Amazon seller network for off-market deal flow. - Traditional CPG incumbents (P&G, Unilever, Reckitt Benckiser) named as eventual disruption targets. - No direct competitive comparison table shown. ## Team & funding ask / use of funds **Founders:** - Sam Hörbye (Co-founder, Ops): Programme Manager at Amazon UK (Marketplace division); co-founded and sold Beechmore Books (Amazon private label, sold 2019). - Ollie Hörbye (Co-founder, Investments): Senior Associate at Alvarez & Marsal (PE practice); Analyst at Rothschild; MSc Finance & PE, LSE. **Other key hires:** - David Mood - Head of Investments (ex-Generation Fund, Barclays IB) - Tommy Dai - VP Investments (ex-BAML, Discovery Corp Dev) - Larry Bowen - Director, Brand Operations (ex-Head of Strategic Seller Accounts, Amazon UK) - Ricky Tanner - Global Brand Manager (ex-Programme Manager, Amazon) - Nish Uduyakumar - Head of Business Development (ex-Programme Manager, Amazon UK) - Hugo Walker - Snr Global Brand Manager (ex-Apple EU Financial Analyst) - Tobias Buck - Non-Executive Director (Apeiron/Elevat3 Capital; ex-Goldman Sachs, Novalpina) **Investor:** Elevat3 Capital (Apeiron / Christian Angermayer); manages ~$2.5bn AUM. --- ## Recommended financial model - **Archetype + why**: **Roll-up / acquisition holding company P&L model** (with deal pipeline and portfolio waterfall). This is not a single-product SaaS or DTC model - it is fundamentally an M&A acquisition vehicle that owns an evolving portfolio of Amazon brands. The core drivers are: # deals closed per period, acquisition price (SDE multiple), acquired brand revenue/SDE growth, and eventual exit multiple. An integrated 3-statement model is appropriate at the HoldCo level wrapping individual brand-level P&Ls. - **Forecast horizon & granularity**: 5 years (2021–2026), monthly in Year 1 (cash/deal timing matters), quarterly thereafter. Individual brand-level P&Ls fold up into a consolidated HoldCo P&L. - **Key drivers & assumptions (list each):** - Number of acquisitions per year - Average acquisition SDE at entry - Entry SDE multiple paid - Revenue per acquired brand at entry - Revenue CAGR post-acquisition per brand - SDE margin at entry - SDE margin improvement post-acquisition - Amazon fee load: 45% of revenue - COGS: 20–30% of revenue - Other Opex per brand: 5% of revenue - HoldCo overhead (team salaries, tech, legal) - Acquisition financing mix (equity vs. debt) - Earn-out liability provisions - Exit timing and exit multiple - **Scenarios (Base / Bull / Bear - which variables flex):** - **Base**: 4 acquisitions/year, 3.2x SDE entry, 40% revenue CAGR per brand post-acq, SDE margin 22%→28% over 3 years, exit at 12x - **Bull**: 7 acquisitions/year, 3.0x entry, 60% CAGR, margin 22%→32%, debt financing layer, exit at 18x - **Bear**: 2 acquisitions/year, 4.0x entry, 20% CAGR post-acq, margin stays flat at 22%, equity only, exit at 8x - **Required sheets / outputs:** 1. **Assumptions dashboard** - all drivers, toggle scenarios 2. **Deal pipeline** - acquisition schedule, price paid per deal, cumulative deployed capital 3. **Brand-level P&L template** - revenue, COGS, Amazon fees, other opex, SDE; one per brand, rolled up via formula 4. **Portfolio roll-up P&L** - consolidated revenue + SDE across all owned brands by period 5. **HoldCo P&L** - portfolio SDE less HoldCo overhead = HoldCo EBITDA; below-line: interest/amortisation of acquisition goodwill if relevant 6. **Cash flow** - operating cash (SDE less overhead), acquisition capex, earn-out payments, funding inflows 7. **Balance sheet** - goodwill/intangibles (acquired brand values), cash, earn-out liabilities, equity 8. **Exit waterfall** - IRR/MOIC at various exit multiples; sensitivity: entry multiple vs. exit multiple 9. **Dashboard** - portfolio KPIs: # brands, total portfolio revenue, blended SDE margin, HoldCo EBITDA, cash runway, estimated equity value ## Frequently asked questions ### Is the Olsam financial model free? Yes. The Olsam model is a free Excel download with live formulas. ### Can I change the assumptions? Yes. The workbook is editable and its live formulas recalculate when assumptions change.