From Nottingham to Nevada – how one entrepreneur attracted Silicon Valley investment
A former director at Nottingham-based auction house giant John Pye launched a new start-up with Silicon Valley venture capital backing.
Sheldon Miller is heading up Global Sustainable Markets (GSM). The nascent company recently oversubscribed its $1m target pre-seed round, topping out at over $1.5m, with Silicon Valley venture capital backing from Ben Narasin and Taylor Young’s new Tenacity Venture Capital firm.
The start-up’s e-commerce operations have begun in Nevada and GSM says it plans more sites across the US and internationally over next few months to cope with immediate client demand.
GSM says it “supports global retail enterprise clients with product recovery and sustainability solutions”.
After six months of building its Phase 1 global tech stack, GSM has secured one million retail products for online clearance sale; making it the biggest global launch of a circular economy e-commerce start-up, beginning with sales through its first platform roll out GSM Deal City clearance outlet website.
GSM scours the global clearance markets for the best product deals, to pass on to its customers through its omni-channel platforms.
GSM is the brainchild of founder Sheldon Miller, who has spent the last 20 years at John Pye. With a greater focus on sustainability, AI, automation and a full e-commerce eco system, Miller and his team aim to build GSM into the circular economy global innovation leader.
He said: “The global secondary market is a fragmented Wild West, serving retail enterprise with low-bar fire sale and job-lot recoveries.
“The secondary market is an opaque layer cake of pass-the-parcel fire sales and margins. Worst still, substantial inventory finds its way from problem corner to landfill; creating significant environmental and brand risks, as more discerning and conscious consumers demand meaningful sustainability.
“We utilise our GSM proprietary technology to harness data to match secondary market supply to primary market demand, to optimise recoveries and value, driving zero waste and sustainability positive impacts, outcomes and metrics at the same time in a full circular economy tech loop.”
GSM already has two heavyweight founding advisors in former CISCO head of global financial services, James Greene, of Silicon Valley and former global Deutsche Bank CIO, Mitchel Lenson, of London, both also Angel investors in GSM.
GSMcaught the eye of VC investor Ben Narasin and fellow Tenacity partner Taylor Oliver, ex-Silicon valley plug and play supply chain specilaist.
Narasin said: “With Tenacity, I am accelerating my quest to back amazing companies early, most importantly when they are led by incredible people with a great idea and a huge addressable market.
“It is particularly rewarding as an investor to back an entrepreneur that can both build a powerful financially successful business and make the world a better place at the same time.
“Watching perfectly viable goods be incinerated or land fill makes me cringe, both financially and environmentally, and I am proud to support GSM in their work to upcycle this merchandise into a new home at a great price. Everyone wins.”
Miller added: “It should not cost the Earth to shop sustainably and with choice. That is what GSM provides to the regular consumer looking for guilt free online shopping with convenience and value. There is much more to come.”
