Numerous venture capital firms aim to invest in companies with the potential to become the next Amazon or Shopify; however, Crossbeam is a newly established firm concentrating its efforts on supporting startups that are developed utilizing these existing platforms. The company has recently finalized its inaugural $25 million fund.

We have previously covered well-capitalized startups such as SellerX, Perch, and Heroes, which specialize in the acquisition and expansion of Amazon-based businesses. Crossbeam General Partner Ali Hamed referenced Amazon to demonstrate the substantial scope of this opportunity. He highlighted that third-party sales on Amazon totaled $200 billion in 2019, and predicted, “There will be 100 successful companies in this sector.”

He further explained that the firm’s focus extends beyond Amazon, also mentioning Thumbtack, Spotify, and Shopify as examples of “platform economies” where Crossbeam might make investments. He provided further detail on this concept in a Medium article released last autumn:

Hamed and General Partner Savneet Singh also hold positions as partners at CoVenture, a firm that initially provided equity in exchange for technical assistance, but now primarily offers debt financing to startups. He characterized Crossbeam as a collaborative effort involving CoVenture, Moelis Asset Management, and Fenway Summer, with CoVenture potentially supplying supplementary debt funding for Crossbeam’s equity investments when appropriate.

Regarding the potential risks for startups that rely on a single platform, Hamed stated that, in certain instances, it could be advantageous to first establish a user base on one platform and then broaden and diversify their reach—though this will vary depending on the platform itself. He emphasized that the central consideration is, “Does the platform generate income for you, acting on your behalf?”

“When you move to other platforms, some will ‘assist you in earning revenue’ while others will not,” Hamed clarified in an email. “YouTube does, as it actively seeks advertising revenue for you and shares that revenue. Instagram, however, does not (Instagram rarely shares ad revenue with content creators) … therefore, the value of each platform is heavily influenced by this factor.”

Prior to the completion of its first fund, Crossbeam had already made six investments, including Wave.tv, a digital media company; Litty, a litigation financing company; Proof, a startup providing on-demand proof-of-service solutions; and Acquco, a company focused on acquiring third-party Amazon sellers.