Top 100 Consumer Marketplaces of 2020

Marketplaces (e.g Etsy, Airbnb, Uber) are the platforms (middlemen) that connect buyers and sellers. On Mar. 22, venture capital firm, a16z, released their annual list of the largest 100 consumer marketplace companies.

While most companies on this list are privately traded, the list gives a peek at emerging trends — and also companies that could go public in the coming year.

Highlights from the report:

• Top 5 companies ranked by total transactions on their platform: Instacart, Valve, Vacasa, StockX and Rover.
• COVID crushed some categories (e.g. ticketing, childcare, office marketplaces) and accelerated others (e.g. online education, grocery delivery)
• 3 companies from last year’s list that went public — Airbnb ($ABNB), DoorDash ($DASH) and Poshmark ($POSH).

Companies on the list that are going/have gone public in 2021:

• Instacart — the online grocery delivery platform, is exploring an IPO or direct listing as early as 2021.
• StockX — the sneaker, streetwear and collectibles marketplace, is looking to go public as early as 2021 according to Insider.
• ThredUp ($TDUP) went public on Mar. 26 and Coursera ($COUR) is expected to go public on Mar. 31.

See the full list of the top 100 marketplace companies.