Online marketplace Etsy is buying Grand St., which sells products for technology hardware makers.

The New York-based target sells items like external batteries, Bluetooth game controllers and invention kits through GrandSt.com. Grand St. raised $1.3 million in venture capital backing from First Round Capital, Quotidian Ventures, Mesa+, Undercurrent, Collaborative Fund, BoxGroup and individuals.

"A curated marketplace, Grand St. addresses indie hardware makers at different stages in the development cycle," says Etsy CEO Chad Dickerson (pictured) on the company blog. "Their beta feature lets makers get direct feedback from buyers on products that are still evolving."

Grand St. co-founders, Amanda Peyton, Joe Lallouz and Aaron Henshaw, will join Etsy and continue to operate Grand St. in the near term.

Etsy, based in Brooklyn, N.Y., sells handmade and vintage items, as well as art, clothing jewelry and other goods, online and through a mobile application. The company has about $91.7 million in venture capital backing from Index Ventures, Union Square Ventures, Accel Partners, Manatt Venture Fund and other investors. The company bought Lascaux Co., a networking application developer, in 2013. Before that, it bought Tunkt, an online wholesale marketplace, in 2012, and Adtuitive, an ad platform, in 2009.

For more on e-commerce M&A, see Mergers & Acquisitions video interview with HGGC's Rich Lawson, "Pent-Up Demand for E-Commerce Technology Drives M&A."

 

Technology