Investors are rolling up Amazon stores. And making a killing.

Remember the last impulse purchase crucial gadget you bought on Amazon? Perhaps it was a deep-tissue massage gun, or a bright light therapy lamp.

You may not remember the brand name, but there’s a good chance it’s owned by an Amazon roll-up — a company that aggregates successful Amazon merchants.

Elevate Brands, one such roll-up, just snagged a cool $250m, per TechCrunch. It’s the latest in a flurry of investment in the space (e.g., $2B for Thrasio, $400m for Razor Group, $70m for Heyday).

Amazon merchants make prime acquisition targets

It’s estimated there are 5m+ sellers on Amazon’s marketplace. As our Trends team reported back in May, there are 3 main reasons investors love them:

• Amazon itself is deeply entrenched among consumers and is likely to keep growing market share.
• Amazon handles warehousing and shipping, allowing roll-ups to quickly cut costs and boost profits by consolidating supply lines.
• With enough brands, a roll-up might be able to negotiate with Amazon for better prices or personalized service.

Elevate started as sellers before joining the roll-up gold rush

This hands-on experience helps them relate to their acquisition targets. It also means they know what it takes to grow an Amazon marketplace brand.

Unlike other roll-ups, Elevate doesn’t focus on specific product categories. With 25 companies under its umbrella, the only common thread is a preference for businesses with patents.

The roll-up market is crowding fast

More bidders mean more competition, leading to bigger deals. This is great news for Amazon merchants, but for roll-ups — not so much. In this context, differentiation will be key.

The bigger question as the roll-up market gains steam: When will we see the first roll-up of roll-ups?