Vinted launches new fund to back re-commerce startups: 'Enormous potential"

The new fund – whose size has not been disclosed – will focus on startups across the re-commerce value chain, with the goal of accelerating the industry and reshaping consumer behaviour in favour of second-hand goods.

"Vinted is proof that it’s possible to successfully scale a tech business that’s both impactful and financially solid," says Vinted CEO Thomas Plantenga in a press comment. "The re-commerce space has enormous potential, hence we are excited to invest and grow startups that will ultimately benefit the wider market."

The fund will target Series A to C stage companies with 'bold visions and data-driven decision-making', offering ticket sizes ranging from €500,000 to €10m. In addition to funding, portfolio companies will gain access to an expert advisory network from across Vinted.

Milda Jasaitė, Senior Director of Corporate Development at Vinted, says that Vinted Ventures supports "ambitious founders whose products and services are solving real problems, and who are ready to define the next frontier of how people buy, sell, and value the things they own."

93 per cent lack online presence

Impact Loop has previously reported that 93 per cent of second-hand stores currently lack an online presence. A company trying to solve this is the Vienna-based firm Minimist, founded by former Google and Spotify product manager Stephan Hofmann and serial founder Henrik Feldt.

"Existing e-commerce tools are not designed at all for the unique challenges of second-hand, and we've worked closely with our customers first in Austria and now across Europe to create an easy-to-use operating system for anyone who sells a lot of second-hand items and wants to save a lot of time while increasing their sales," Stephan Hofman said when the company's funding round was announced.