Bezar

Bezar was an American online design marketplace founded in 2015 by former Fab co-founder Bradford Shellhammer (CEO), Matt Baer (COO), PieterJan Mattan (Creative Director), and Justin Chen (CFO).^[1][2] The site featured unique pieces from both emerging designers and established brands in four categories: home, accessories, jewelry, and art.^[3] The company was headquartered in SoHo, Manhattan.

Bezar.com, Bezar

Type of site	design, retail, e-commerce
Available in	English
Headquarters	560 Broadway, New York, NY 10012
Area served	United States
URL	www.bezar.com
Launched	March 17, 2015
Current status	Acquired

The name “Bezar” comes from a combination of the words bazaar and bizarre, which both are phonetically pronounced \bə-ˈzär\.^[4]

History

In 2013, Bradford Shellhammer left his role as co-founder and chief design officer of ecommerce website Fab, maintaining a role as a shareholder and non-executive advisor.^[5]

In early 2015, Shellhammer announced he would launch and curate his own online design marketplace. Bezar launched in March 2015, featuring four new virtual pop-up shops daily, and a range of exclusive collaborations with designers, labels and brands like FLOS ^[6] and Refinery29.^[7] Bezar's marketplace component, featuring hundreds of permanent designer storefronts, was rolled out in September 2015.^[8][9]

Funding

Before its launch, Bezar raised a total of $2.25 million in two and a half weeks from seven investment funds and 20 individuals.^[10] Notable investors include designer Yves Béhar, Kenneth Lerer, Hiroshi Mikitani and Whoopi Goldberg.^[11]

Acquisition

In February 2016, Bezar was acquired by online luxury goods retailer AHAlife Holdings, Ltd. (ASX:AHL)^[12][13][14]