The Agent
The Agent is a Paris-based B2B service provider that manages the marketplace channel for 50+ European fashion brands on platforms including Zalando, About You, and La Redoute, combining proprietary digital dashboards with localized operational expertise across France, Spain, and Italy.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2014
- HeadquartersParis, France
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What The Agent does
The Agent (legally SAS THE AGENT) is a Paris-headquartered B2B service provider that operates the European marketplace channel on behalf of fashion brands. Founded in 2014, the company serves over 50 brands including Camper, Aigle, Pikolinos, Munich, Lola Casademunt, and Thinking Mu, handling the complete marketplace journey — catalogue onboarding, performance optimization, content production, and cross-border logistics — on platforms including Zalando, About You, La Redoute, and Decathlon across 30 countries.
The company's offering combines a managed-services layer with a proprietary digital platform that delivers custom dashboards and integrations covering sales, returns, and stock-level insights. The platform is positioned as a fashion-specific decision-support tool rather than a general BI stack, and underpins the firm's "Performance Management Framework." Operations are organized across four departments led by General Manager Romain Aymeric, with localized country specialists in France, Spain (Pepe Quintero), and Italy (Clara Fracasso). Internal headcount is reported at 9, despite a firmographic range of 11–50.
Revenue is generated through bespoke managed-services agreements; pricing is not publicly disclosed and is negotiated per brand. The firm holds a co-investment marketing partnership with ICEX, Spain's Fashion Export Board, which co-funds 50% of marketplace marketing for eligible Spanish brands with sustainability credentials, and is preparing a dropshipping launch on La Redoute for Winter 2025. The Agent is privately held, independently operated with no parent company, and has raised approximately $10.1 million cumulatively across funding rounds between 2015 and 2018 from Bpifrance, Generis Capital Partners, Ventech, and Look&Fin.
The Agent firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- The Agent
- Legal name
- SAS THE AGENT
- Website
- https://theagent.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2014
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- The Agent is a Paris-based B2B service provider that manages the marketplace channel for 50+ European fashion brands on platforms including Zalando, About You, and La Redoute, combining proprietary digital dashboards with localized operational expertise across France, Spain, and Italy.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
The Agent industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Fashion Marketplace Management Services
- NAICS
- Advertising Agencies (54181)
- SIC
- Services-Advertising Agencies (7311), Services-Advertising (7310)
- akta.pro primary industry
- International DTC & Brand.com (Global Shipping) (CRAFAJAB)
Keywords
Where The Agent is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Paris
- HQ country
- France
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
The Agent business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Marketplace Management Services: Full-service marketplace channel operation for fashion brands, including catalogue management, performance optimization, content production, and logistics coordination.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels3 records
The Agent product offering
Product offeringCore offering
The Agent provides full-service marketplace channel management for European fashion brands, covering catalogue management, performance optimization, content production, logistics coordination, and cross-border international expansion across marketplaces such as Zalando, About You, La Redoute, and Decathlon. The service is delivered by an in-house team of local European market specialists and supported by a proprietary digital platform with custom dashboards that surface sales, returns, and stock-level insights.
Product overview
The Agent is a digital fashion marketplace service provider operating a unified platform-plus-service model. The core offering consists of three interrelated components: the Dedicated Digital Platform (providing analytics, dashboards, and data insights), the Performance Management Framework (handling catalogue management and optimization), and the overarching Marketplace Channel Management Service that orchestrates the full journey from brand onboarding to international expansion. Brands served span Ready-to-Wear and Sports & Outdoor categories, with operations across Zalando, About You, La Redoute, Decathlon, and other European marketplaces.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Marketplace Channel Management Service Full-service marketplace channel management for fashion brands, covering catalogue onboarding, content production, performance optimization, logistics coordination, and cross-border international expansion across European marketplaces such as Zalando, About You, La Redoute, and Decathlon.
Quantifiable outcome
- +55% sales outside home market in first month for Munich brand
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use The Agent
Customer profileNamed customers6 records
Segments1 record
Ideal customer profiles1 record
The Agent technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature2 records
The Agent partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered core, secondary and minor.
- ICEX (Spain's Fashion Export Board)coreCo-investment marketing partnership for Spanish fashion brands. ICEX co-funds 50% of marketing investments for eligible brands with strong sustainability credentials, enabling brands to access matched funding for marketplace marketing campaigns.
- ZalandocorePrimary marketplace partner for European fashion brands. The Agent helps brands join and operate on Zalando under models like ZFS (Zalando Fulfillment Solutions). Zalando is Europe's leading fashion marketplace present across multiple countries.
- About YoucoreSecond major marketplace partner for fashion brands. Present in 28 European countries with strong female fashion audience. The Agent helps brands launch and optimize on About You under FbAY (Fulfillment by About You) model.
- La RedoutesecondaryFrench marketplace partner. The Agent is preparing to launch brands on La Redoute via dropshipping model for Winter 2025.
- DecathlonminorSports marketplace partner mentioned as part of the marketplace ecosystem The Agent operates within.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
The Agent competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Salesupply: Salesupply provides marketplace management, content, and operational services to brands across Europe — a near-identical service model to The Agent, making it the closest direct competitor.
- ChannelEngine: ChannelEngine offers marketplace integration, feed management, and operational tooling for brands selling across hundreds of marketplaces — directly overlapping with The Agent's platform-plus-services model.
- Neteven: Neteven provides marketplace management and distribution services to brands across Europe, with similar managed-service-plus-technology positioning to The Agent.
- Lengow: French-headquartered Lengow specializes in product feed management and marketplace integration for brands and retailers — a closely comparable European marketplace-enablement player.
- Webinterpret: Webinterpret specializes in cross-border marketplace expansion and localization for brands — directly comparable to The Agent's cross-border European marketplace expansion offering.
- Tradebyte: Tradebyte (a Zalando subsidiary) operates the TB.One marketplace integration platform used by many of the same fashion brands and marketplaces The Agent serves, overlapping heavily in European fashion marketplace enablement.
- Octopia (Cdiscount): Octopia is Cdiscount's B2B marketplace-services arm, helping brands sell on Cdiscount and other marketplaces — a comparable managed-services marketplace offering for European brands.
- Shoppingfeed (Lyra Network): Shoppingfeed offers feed management, marketplace listing, and order-orchestration services for brands — overlapping with The Agent's catalogue and marketplace-management functionality.
Broad incumbents
- Mirakl: Mirakl is a leading global enterprise marketplace platform powering retailer-operated marketplaces; it sits one layer above The Agent (platform vs. service provider) but competes for the same brand-channel-enablement wallet.
- Zalando Partner Program / ZEOS: Zalando's first-party partner program offers direct onboarding, FbAY/ZFS logistics, and account-management tooling to brands — the same marketplace services The Agent provides, but delivered by the marketplace itself.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
The Agent social profiles
Digital presenceThe Agent financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
The Agent leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles9 records
The Agent funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds4 records
Investors4 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
The Agent M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about The Agent
What does The Agent do?
The Agent provides full-service marketplace channel management for European fashion brands, covering catalogue management, performance optimization, content production, logistics coordination, and cross-border international expansion across marketplaces such as Zalando, About You, La Redoute, and Decathlon. The service is delivered by an in-house team of local European market specialists and supported by a proprietary digital platform with custom dashboards that surface sales, returns, and stock-level insights.
Is The Agent a public or private company?
The Agent is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was The Agent founded?
The Agent was founded in 2014. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is The Agent based?
The Agent is headquartered in Paris, France, in the Europe region.
How does The Agent make money?
One revenue line is on record: marketplace Management Services.
Who are The Agent's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Salesupply, ChannelEngine, Neteven, Lengow, Webinterpret, Tradebyte, Octopia (Cdiscount) and Shoppingfeed (Lyra Network). Broad incumbents are Mirakl and Zalando Partner Program / ZEOS.
Does The Agent have an API?
No public API is recorded for The Agent.
What industry is The Agent in?
The Agent's product category is Fashion Marketplace Management Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is CRAFAJAB, International DTC & Brand.com (Global Shipping). Its NAICS code is 54181 and its SIC code is 7311.