After raising 250 million euros, Vinted, Europe's largest second-hand platform, has a market value of 3.5 billion euros

Recently, Vinted, a European second-hand clothing and home goods marketplace, recently announced that it had completed an all-equity financing of €250 million (approximately US$303 million). As a result, the company's market value is now approximately € 3.5 billion ( US $4.5 billion ) , a significant jump from its US$1 billion valuation at the end of 2019.

The financing was reportedly led by global investment firm EQT Growth, with support from previous Vinted backers such as Accel, Burda Principal Investments, Insight Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Sprints Capital.

Vinted said it will use the funds to further double down on its business and expand into existing markets such as the United States. Vinted CEO Thomas Plantenga said: "We are driving a seismic shift in the second-hand fashion market towards more sustainable, socially responsible shopping habits."

Founded in Vilnius, Lithuania in 2008, Vinted currently operates in 13 markets, including the UK, the US, France, Germany and the Netherlands, and has become one of the largest second-hand C2C online trading markets in Europe.

CEO Thomas Plantenga : “ We want to replicate the success we have built in our existing European markets in new regions and will continue to invest to improve our products and ensure we continue to have a positive impact. ”

Vinted, which has more than 45 million users, allows users to upload clothing or homewares they want to sell on the platform , as well as purchase items uploaded by other users. Without charging any user fees, the platform has a "buyer protection" rate that fluctuates between 3% and 8% of the cost of an item, or directly depends on the value of the item.

The circular economy model has gathered pace during the pandemic, with fashion stores shuttering their doors amid Covid restrictions. As lockdown boosted sales, a number of rival second-hand fashion platforms took a major step forward, with ThredUp and Poshmark both going public.

According to ThredUp's latest annual report released in June 2020, the second-hand market is expected to reach $64 billion in the next five years and replace the fast fashion industry by 2029. In this regard, Vinted stated that it will further accelerate its development and occupy the second-hand market.

Vinted

Europe

Second-hand platform