Ahalife

01 / WHAT IT BUILT

What the company did

Ahalife was a curated luxury e-commerce marketplace founded by Shauna Mei in Brooklyn in 2010, connecting discerning shoppers with more than 4,000 handpicked designers and artisans in 45 countries. It operated a dropship model - wholesalers shipped directly to customers, leaving no inventory risk for the company - with high average order values of about US$190.

03 / EVENT HISTORY

Events in the structured record

1. 2010
   Founded

   MIT engineer and former Goldman Sachs banker Shauna Mei founds Ahalife in Brooklyn, a curated discovery platform for high-end, limited-edition lifestyle products from independent designers.

2. 2012
   Rakuten-led funding

   Japanese e-commerce conglomerate Rakuten leads a $10 million funding round for the venture-backed company.

3. 2013
   Kaptur acquisition

   Ahalife acquires photo-sharing app Kaptur for its social user-acquisition engine, announcing 1.5 million combined users.

4. 2015
   ASX listing

   In July 2015, Ahalife debuts on the Australian Securities Exchange through a backdoor listing, raising approximately AUD 20.4 million in growth capital while staying a U.S. company; founder Shauna Mei stays on as CEO.

5. 2016
   Bezar acquisition and rebrand

   Ahalife completes the acquisition of Bezar in April 2016 and relaunches as AHA Premier, a curated designer and artisan marketplace with 748,000+ customers.

6. 2017
   Leadership change and decline

   In February 2017, Shauna Mei steps down as CEO; the share price collapses to 1.90 cents by FY2017 and 0.70 cents by FY2019, with the consolidated entity posting losses after income tax every year through FY2020.