Conduit Commerce Buys Wally // TikTok Shop Enabler Attracts Capital

By Chris Erwin

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Let’s break it down…

–SELLER: Wally–

Overview

• TikTok Shop enablement platform 

• Creates storefronts inside TikTok’s app for retailers and creators to sell products without leaving app

• Makes it easy for influencers and brands to quickly list products and fulfill orders

• Small, distributed team focused on product and engineering

• Founded in 2023 by Mayank Jain

• Based in US with distributed team

Company Highlights

• Reached $1 million in GMV within three months of launch

Service Offerings

• For Retailers…

• Set up a TikTok storefront, list products easily

• Offer products for creators to promote via affiliate storefronts

• Track and fulfill orders in-app

• For Creators…

• Launch a TikTok shop with no upfront costs

• Select products to feature and sell.

• Earn a commission for each sale driven

• For Suppliers…

• Make bulk inventory available to retailers and creators

• Orders routed straight to warehouse for fast shipping

Business Model

• Monthly subscription fee for retailers starting at $8 / month

• Creators pay nothing up front; earn via commission

Capital Markets History

• Aug '25: Acquired by Conduit Commerce

–BUYER: Conduit Commerce–

Overview

• Ecommerce software for wholesale distributors

• Helps distributors transition from selling in bulk to stores, to starting to list and sell products online, directly to consumers

• Connects warehouse and inventory systems to e-commerce platforms like Shopify and TikTok, so orders and inventory update automatically

• Founded in 2023, emerged from stealth in Aug 2025

• HQ'd in San Francisco

• 20+ employees

Company Highlights

• Facilitated $500M+ sales through its software

• Generated $50M+ annualized GMV for Alliance Entertainment within months

• Integrated with Universal Music Group for 100+ artist storefronts

Service Offerings

• For Retailers…

• Connects warehouse and inventory systems to online stores like Shopify, TikTok Shop, and Instagram

• Quickly connects and adds new retail partners across online platforms

• Track and fulfill orders automatically through existing backend

• For Suppliers…

• Makes inventory available to retailers for bulk or dropship orders

• Orders route directly to warehouse for quick shipping

• Business Model…

• Subscription pricing based on integration and usage scale

• Custom pricing model

Capital Markets History

• Aug '25: Acquired Wally (TikTok Shop enablement platform)

• Nov ‘23: Received early stage funding from Susa Ventures, Night Ventures, First Round Capital, Good Friends, and Chris Zarou

• Apr ‘23: Received grant funding from Sunstone Management worth $35K

–DEAL DETAILS–

Overview

• Announced August 2025

• Undisclosed terms

Strategic Rationale

• The acquisition of Wally adds TikTok Shop expertise to Conduit's existing retailer, warehouse, and e-commerce (Shopify, BigCommerce) integrations

• The combined platform helps wholesale distributors tap into social commerce opportunities, connecting warehouses to creators and online shoppers seamlessly

• Many warehouses use old EDI tech that struggles to share info or handle orders from multiple retailers

• Conduit fills this gap by syncing real-time product, inventory, and orders across platforms like Shopify, Instagram Shop, and TikTok

Post-Deal Operations

• Founder Mayank Jain joins Conduit leadership team

• TikTok Shop becomes core platform offering alongside existing integrations

 –WHAT ELSE I FIND INTERESTING–

• Social commerce demands new B2B integration and data infrastructure.

• Traditional e-commerce platforms like Shopify and BigCommerce weren’t designed for the complex inventory synchronization that social commerce requires.

• Creator-driven sales need different data flows, commission structures, and fulfillment logistics than traditional e-commerce transactions.

• Real-time pricing updates across multiple platforms require infrastructure that most wholesale distributors do not currently possess.

• Overall, creators, distributors, and platforms all need synchronized commerce data.

• Conduit's acquisition of Wally positions them to own this infrastructure layer as social platforms increasingly become primary point of product discovery and purchase for consumers.

• NOTE: Thanks to the Information article here for reference info

• Wholesalers seek to build D2C customer relationships, and creators need access to more product inventory to sell = major commerce opportunity.

• Wholesale distributors control billions in inventory but lack D2C relationships, while creators have large, engaged audiences but limited access to products to sell.

• Most creators cannot meet minimum order requirements or provide upfront capital to access wholesale inventory.

• Conduit is building a path for creators to instantly tap into wholesale inventory

• This gives traditional distributors a viable way to transition their business models to better align with new consumer product discovery and purchase behavior; from traditional retailer distribution to social and e-commerce.
  

• 2025 has seen a return of capital flows to social commerce.

• Over the years our team has written extensively about live and social commerce on our deal blog. Overall, there was billions of dollars of investment from 2019 to 2022, and then a major pullback in the market.

• But starting late in 2024 and throughout 2025, we’re seeing a resurgence of capital flows to social commerce businesses. I wrote about this in our March 2025 analysis of Verb buying Lyvecom. This aligns with the broader trend of the creator economy entering a new growth cycle after the 2022 to 2024 down period.

• Therefore, this is definitely a space worth watching again, and there are many companies building infrastructure to service this ecosystem. To that end, our team will be attending SoCom again in 2026, which is the first dedicated social commerce conference. It will be in Venice Beach, CA. We’ll also be hosting a “Night Before” party on February 25 with our friends at The Creator Society. More details to come in our future newsletters, and hope to see many of you there! 

I'm the founder of RockWater Industries. We do M&A and strategy advisory for creator economy and digital / audio agencies. From buy and sell-side M&A and fundraising to market research and go-to-market planning. 

DM me on LinkedIn or email [email protected]

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