At seed, marketplace investors expect to see early signs of liquidity. You need evidence that supply and demand are finding each other and transacting on your platform.
Marketplace investing is different. Investors are looking for signs of the chicken-and-egg problem being solved:
Are listings converting to transactions? At what rate?
Does your take rate support a real business?
Will more users make the platform more valuable?
How are you getting supply? Can you do it profitably?
Marketplaces have unique metrics. Investors will expect you to know and track these:
Total value of transactions through your platform
Benchmark: Growing 15-20%+ month-over-month at seed
Your commission per transaction
Benchmark: 5-20% depending on category (services higher, goods lower)
Percentage of listings that result in transactions
Benchmark: 20-30%+ for healthy marketplace
How fast new users complete their first transaction
Benchmark: Under 7 days for most categories
Percentage of users who transact again
Benchmark: 30-50%+ within 90 days
Balance between buyers and sellers
Benchmark: Varies by model, but should be improving
Evidence needed: Both sides of the market. Pain points for buyers AND sellers.
Marketplaces solve coordination problems. Show the friction in the current market.
Evidence needed: How you connect both sides, your unique value proposition
Explain your matching mechanism. Why is your marketplace better than alternatives?
Evidence needed: GMV potential, transaction volume, take rate benchmarks
Marketplaces need large transaction volume. Show the addressable GMV.
Evidence needed: GMV, transactions, liquidity metrics, cohort retention
This is where marketplace decks live or die. Show early liquidity.
Marketplace experience, domain expertise, hustle evidence
GMV means nothing if you lose money on every transaction.
Marketplaces need density. Pick one city or vertical and dominate.
You need compelling value prop for both buyers AND sellers.
First transaction is not enough. Show repeat usage.
Craigslist, Facebook Groups, and manual processes are competitors too.
Every marketplace pitch must explain how you solve the cold start problem. Common strategies:
Provide value to one side even without the other. Tools for sellers, content for buyers.
Pay for supply acquisition initially. Common in services marketplaces.
Launch in one city. Achieve density before expanding.
Pull in listings from other platforms to bootstrap.
Pitchkit guides you through marketplace-specific requirements and metrics.
Get startedMarketplaces are operationally intensive. Show you can execute.
Evidence needed: Existing alternatives, why they fail, your wedge
Explain the market gap. Why now? What are incumbents missing?
Evidence needed: Take rate, unit economics per transaction, path to profitability
Investors scrutinize marketplace economics heavily. Show you understand them.
Evidence needed: GMV projections, revenue (take rate x GMV), burn rate
Show path from current GMV to sustainable revenue.
Evidence needed: Specific amount, use of funds split between supply and demand
Typically $1M-$3M at seed. Be clear on how you balance supply vs demand investment.