What Ghost does

Ghost (legal entity: Ghosts, Inc.) is a Los Angeles-headquartered, venture-backed company that operates a private, AI-native B2B distribution marketplace connecting direct brands with vetted global retailers for the purpose of monetizing excess and wholesale inventory. The platform is accessible only to approved members — Ghost never publishes who buys or sells — and is structured around a single core product delivered in two role-based experiences: Ghost for Sellers (which lets brands and resellers list inventory with channel, retailer and geography controls and set their own prices) and Ghost for Buyers (which gives vetted retailers curated access to inventory with AI-powered sourcing of trending brands and hero SKUs). As of October 2024 the platform hosts 28,000+ listed brands, 14,000+ posted listings and $12B+ in total MSRP, with combined buyer buying power stated at $1T+ and a presence across six continents.

Under the hood, Ghost replaces the spreadsheet/phone-call/handshake model of wholesale commerce with a curated marketplace plus a managed logistics layer (payment flow through Stripe, shipping coordination, insurance and customs documentation for cross-border trade). The platform monetizes via a transaction-based take rate that is not publicly disclosed and is negotiated per Purchase Order, supplemented by shipping and logistics facilitation fees. Pricing is quote-based and onboarding is sales-led: buyers and sellers apply online and are validated by Ghost's sales team before activation. Headcount sits in the 101–250 range and the company has raised approximately $95M across seed, Series A (with debt), Series B and Series C rounds, with lead investors Eniac Ventures / Equal Ventures (seed), Union Square Ventures (Series A), Cathay Innovation (Series B) and L Catterton (Series C). The company is privately held, with no parent entity, no public listing and no disclosed revenue.

Name

Ghost

Legal name

Ghosts, Inc.

Website

https://ghst.io

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Ghost operates a private, AI-native B2B distribution marketplace connecting 28,000+ direct brands with vetted global retailers — from Fortune 500s to marketplace resellers — to monetize excess and wholesale inventory discretely, with built-in channel protection, pricing controls and cross-border logistics.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Marketplace transaction fees: Ghost facilitates transactions between buyers and sellers on its private marketplace, charging a take rate / commission on each sale. Payment flows through Ghost (Buyer pays Ghost; Ghost pays Seller) per Terms of Service.
2. Shipping and logistics facilitation fees: Ghost coordinates shipping/logistics between sellers and buyers, providing upfront estimates and managing insurance and customs documentation for cross-border shipments.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Ghost operates a private, AI-native B2B distribution marketplace that connects 28,000+ direct brands with vetted global retailers to monetize surplus and wholesale inventory. The platform offers built-in channel protection and pricing integrity controls for sellers, AI-powered sourcing for buyers to identify trending brands and hero SKUs, and end-to-end logistics coordination including cross-border shipping, insurance, and customs documentation across six continents.

Product overview

Ghost operates a single, unified AI-native B2B distribution marketplace rather than a platform-plus-add-ons architecture. The core offering, the Ghost Marketplace Platform, is a private curated marketplace served through app.ghst.io and marketed at ghst.io, and it is delivered as two role-based experiences on the same platform: Ghost for Sellers (the supplier side, enabling brands and resellers to liquidate excess and wholesale inventory with channel-protection and pricing-integrity controls) and Ghost for Buyers (the retailer side, providing vetted buyers with AI-powered sourcing, discovery of trending brands and hero SKUs, and end-to-end logistics support). The two role-based experiences share the same underlying platform, brand network (28,000+ listed brands, $12B+ total MSRP), and intelligence layer.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Ghost Marketplace Platform Ghost's core product is an AI-native, private B2B distribution marketplace that connects 28,000+ direct brands with vetted global retailers to move surplus and wholesale inventory. It delivers built-in controls for channel protection and pricing integrity, AI-powered sourcing for buyers, and logistics support across six continents.
• Ghost for Sellers The seller-facing side of the Ghost marketplace, enabling brands and resellers to turn excess and wholesale inventory into liquidity, set their own prices, control which channels, retailers, and geographies receive their goods, and sell under strict discretion with curated, approved-member access.
• Ghost for Buyers

Quantifiable outcome

• 500% year-over-year increase in inventory uploads
• +4 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability4 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• StripecoreTechnology or IntegrationGhost's payment processing partner. Stripe collects buyer payment card information and processes all payments on the Ghost platform; subject to Stripe's terms of service and privacy policy.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• B-Stock Solutions: B-Stock operates private, vetted B2B marketplaces for excess and returned inventory across multiple verticals; it is the closest direct competitor to Ghost in connecting brands and retailers for surplus liquidation at scale.
• Liquidity Services: Liquidity Services runs a network of B2B marketplaces (Liquidation.com, GovDeals, GovPlanet) for surplus and excess assets; it directly overlaps with Ghost's core use case of monetizing excess inventory through a managed marketplace model.
• Faire: Faire is a leading B2B wholesale marketplace connecting brands with independent retailers; it competes with Ghost on the wholesale-distribution side and is highly comparable in business model, even though its core focus is on emerging brands rather than excess inventory.
• Joor: JOOR is a B2B wholesale platform for fashion brands and retailers, focused on digital showroom and order management; it shares Ghost's fashion-wholesale customer base and marketplace dynamics, with similar buyer and seller personas.
• NuOrder: NuOrder is a B2B platform facilitating wholesale buying between brands and retailers, with mobile-first showroom and order tools; it overlaps with Ghost in digitizing and modernizing wholesale commerce for fashion and lifestyle brands.
• Tundra: Tundra is a zero-commission B2B wholesale marketplace connecting brands and resellers; it is a direct competitor on the wholesale-distribution side and shares Ghost's emphasis on logistics and global reach.

Emerging players

• RangeMe: RangeMe is a product discovery and wholesale platform used by retailers to source from emerging brands; it is an emerging player adjacent to Ghost on the buyer-side sourcing and discovery experience.

Broad incumbents

• The TJX Companies: TJX is the largest off-price retailer and a dominant buyer of surplus and excess branded inventory; it represents a broad incumbent counterpart to Ghost on the demand side, sourcing inventory from many of the same brands Ghost serves.
• Amazon Business: Amazon Business is a large B2B commerce platform serving enterprise and SMB buyers; while broader than Ghost, it overlaps in providing enterprise-grade procurement and supply access and competes for the same Fortune 500 buyer relationships.

Regional players

• Alibaba 1688: Alibaba's 1688 is a massive China-domestic B2B wholesale marketplace; it is a regional player comparable in wholesale-marketplace mechanics, serving global sourcing needs that partly overlap with Ghost's cross-border buyer base.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ghosts-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds5 records

Investors13 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Ghost