Etsy Just Bought an Electronics E-Tailer Called Grand St. Here's Why. In a deal rumored to be worth just under $10 million, Etsy has acquired Grand St., an online marketplace where indie hardware makers vend cutting-edge tech.
By Geoff Weiss
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
In the market for some "bedphones" -- a lightweight headset for sleeptime listening? Or perhaps you're seeking a brand new iPhone case -- one that could, say, transform your smartphone into a Swiss Army Knife?
These are the kinds of inventions -- and then some -- proliferating on Grand St., an online marketplace founded in Brooklyn in 2012, where indie hardware makers vend their cutting-edge creations.
And now, in addition to raising $1.3 million in seed funding and attracting hundreds of thousands of members, it has won the eye of a fellow Brooklyn behemoth that operates a strikingly similar business model: Etsy.
Related: Come August, Etsy Merchants Can Sell Directly to Retailers
Etsy CEO Chad Dickerson announced the company's acquisition of Grand St. in a blog post yesterday. The transaction is rumored to be worth just under $10 million, according to Recode, comprising a mix of both cash and stock.
While Etsy does currently vend some electronics, the purchase implies that the crafty giant is staking a noted claim in the burgeoning homemade-tech sphere.
Next week, Grand St.'s eight employees will move to Etsy headquarters, a spokeswoman confirmed to Recode, though the site will continue to operate separately for the foreseeable future.
"While this is a big step for us as a company, we plan to change very little about the site and your experience of Grand St. in the near term," wrote Grand St. founder Amanda Peyton, a tech BIZ Experiences and Y-Combinator alumni, on the company's blog.
Related: Make Your Own Luck and Get Acquired
