Pickle’s Post

Lithuanian Vinted expands Nordic reach with the acquisition of Danish Trendsales Vilnius-based Vinted has acquired Copenhagen’s Trendsales. Vinted is a C2C marketplace for second-hand items, while Trendsales is Denmark’s largest second-hand marketplace for fashion and lifestyle items. The acquisition aims to strengthen Vinted’s presence in the Nordic region, following successful launches in Sweden and Finland and its Danish debut in September 2023. Trendsales has been instrumental in increasing second-hand consumption in Denmark. With this acquisition, Vinted seeks to leverage Trendsales’ regional knowledge and strong Danish presence to achieve synergies and new opportunities in the second-hand market, aiming to make second-hand the preferred choice for consumers in Denmark and beyond. https://lnkd.in/dG3z3Z9r #balticmade #lithuania #nordicmade #denmark #acquisitions #marketplace #c2c #secondhand #startups #trending

Top Tips for #Starting an Online Secondhand and Vintage #Marketplace https://lnkd.in/giNhXRwW #top #tips #online #secondhandandvintage #shopify #shopifyexperts #shopifydevelopers #webinopoly

I am not very active on social media, and certainly not on LinkedIn, so I realize this post will probably take many people by surprise. However, I am excited to officially announce the creation of Refurnit. As many of you know, I have dreamed of starting my own business for quite awhile, and this venture is the first manifestation of those dreams. One of my biggest struggles as an aspiring entrepreneur has always been the actual execution of the idea, and this venture was no different - I have no doubt spent too much time planning, thinking, dreaming, and praying through the iterations of this concept, but now I’m thrilled to share it with you. So what is Refurnit, and where did this idea come from? I have played around with some version of this concept since high school. The idea that we as people have too much stuff, and while we are very good at getting more stuff, we are really bad at getting rid of stuff. So when I started on this journey, that is again what I went back to. I remember living in Athens and seeing furniture on the side of the road or outside of apartment buildings. When I moved to Atlanta, I observed the same things, and the waste was both sad and obvious. And in classic entrepreneur fashion, that thought popped into my head - ‘there has to be a better way.’ After a good amount of research and some eye-popping stats, Refurnit was created. We are building Refurnit to be the easiest way to buy and sell high quality used furniture. Currently we are only serving the Metro Atlanta area, but hope to expand our operations at some point. Our process is fairly simple - if you have used furniture you’d like to get rid of, we will remove those items for free using our partner company Freed Space, which we are starting in tandem with Refurnit. If you want to get rid of your furniture, but want to try to get some value back for them, Refurnit can give you money for those items. Of course, if you want to find great furniture at affordable prices, come shop around our website. We are building the resale infrastructure for furniture, and hope to eventually partner with regional furniture retailers directly to offer trade-in/buyback programs (think car trade-in, but for furniture) and explore branded resale solutions for these retailers. Ultimately, we want to make the process of reselling/removing furniture as simple as buying it. As of now, we are looking to partner with realtors, property managers, retirement homes, apartment complexes, condos, interior designers, and stagers who need their furniture removed or need to furnish their homes. Any furniture industry connections would also be greatly appreciated. Special thanks to all the support, advice, and encouragement from my friends and family, specifically my amazing wife, Jessica Barron, my dad, Alan Barron, my brother, Ross Barron, Brenton Aliotta, who is heading up the sales side of the whole operation, and Tripp Faircloth.

Laced, the online marketplace for authentic sneakers, has raised a $12 million Series A round led by London-based early-stage investment firm Talis Capital, who previously led Laced’s seed round. Other Series A investors include H&M Group Ventures, the investment arm of H&M Group. Laced, which to date has now raised over $17m, will use the funding to further expand and develop its technology and product offering. Laced’s Series A funding comes off the back of GMV on the platform surpassing $100 million and hiring some of the most respected and talented people within the industry. Founded in 2018 by CEO Chris Gibbons, Laced connects buyers and sellers of rare, exclusive and desirable sneakers and luxury goods, providing a secure, transparent and easy-to-use service for collectors and enthusiasts. “We are driven by our belief that everyone deserves access to luxury goods. Our technology and team of experts not only democratise this access, but also ensures that all products are authentic and that each transaction is safe and secure. We have a deep relationship with Talis Capital, which is backing us again. We are delighted to welcome H&M Group Ventures on our journey as we roll out a significant product roadmap throughout the rest of the year.” - Chris Gibbons, founder and CEO of Laced “At Talis, we partner with founders who are set to redefine their industries with unconventional thinking, and Laced embodies this. We saw the business’ potential from the very beginning and this funding round demonstrates our continued support in becoming the leading marketplace for sought-after sneakers and high-end luxury fashion.” - Kirill Tasilov, General Partner at Talis Capital Read here 👉 https://bit.ly/3q7nnxo #Funding #Growth

PopChill Secures Fresh Investment for Expansion 🌏🛍 In the realm of luxury fashion marketplaces, Taiwan's PopChill 拍拍圈 has recently marked a milestone. Securing an investment of US$1.9 million from prominent investors like ITIC, AVA Angels Fund, 500 Global, Acorn Pacific Ventures, and Darwin Venture, the startup now boasts a total funding of US$5.2 million. Having successfully carved out a niche in Taiwan, where monthly transaction volumes have surpassed US$1 million, PopChill sets its sights on the Hong Kong market. The company's authentication-centered approach stands in contrast to traditional e-commerce platforms and has fostered trust, evidenced by an impressive average order value of US$800. Co-founder Andy Kuo (郭家齊) is optimistic about the expansion, remarking, "Our goal for the Hong Kong branch is to replicate the growth trajectory experienced in Taiwan over the past few months, rapidly establishing supply and demand locally." #Startups #LuxuryFashion Chi Ko https://lnkd.in/gzc-vvqA

Christopher Eko is the co-founder and CEO of Kick Avenue, which was founded in 2017 to cater to Indonesia's sneakers boom, which grew to become the largest e-marketplace for buying and selling a variety of collectibles such as footwear, apparel, and luxury products. They raised their seed funding in 2019 from Insignia Ventures Partners. Fast forward to 2023, the company raised their $2.9M Series A from KREAM and SneakerLAH. 👋🏼 How would you explain your job to someone outside tech? Being born into a family of 5 children and being the eldest influenced my work ethic. Being the big brother for those working at Kick Avenue describes my typical day-to-day work. Metaphorically speaking, as a big brother, my duty is to act as the bridge between my parents' goals and expectations for my siblings, with 'parents' being customers and 'siblings' being my employees. 🧐 What's something about you or your job that would surprise us? I've always been a sales person, but to most people, what usually surprises them is that my previous job was in the property business, such as flipping houses. Now I'm flipping shoes and luxury products for a living. 🏆 What has been the biggest highlight of your career so far? Being trusted by my peers to sit in this CEO chair and run this fast-growing company, it's as if I'm driving a nice sports car on a highway with no speed limit. 🔍 What's a startup trend or space you're watching this year? Fashion has been a stable growing industry, and lately, we have noticed some shift within this sector. The main cause of this is digital developments in live shopping, preloved, and luxury products that are seen as investments. 💼 What advice would you give someone starting out in your industry?  Find people who share your interest in the sector, and once you do, be laser-focused on the product instead of solely relying on marketing efforts. 🗣 What's one thing you can keep talking about for hours?  I have a particular interest in human behavior, especially when it comes to monetary spending. 🎥 What's your favorite movie/TV show?  Movie: The Godfather trilogy TV shows: Breaking Bad, Narcos, and Squid Game 🍨 What's your go-to ice cream flavor? Baskin-robbins' Mint Chocolate Chip and Häagen-Dazs' Pralines & Cream Read more: https://bit.ly/3XTq2pE -- This is Ice Breakers, where we feature amazing founders, execs, operators and VCs from our community. Want the latest news in SEA tech? Subscribe for free on: www.BackScoop.com.

From harnessing internet culture in new ways to rethinking the traditional launch-to-runway pipeline, a slew of young founders have broken the industry mould this year. Before we launch into a new year of spotlighting the industry's most exciting startups and brands, I broke down some of the key lessons we've learned from the Vogue Business Next-Gen Edit in 2023.

Patience and motivation are two things to learn from the founders of Flatheads. Finally, we see the founders smile as Styched acquires the startup. Read how the partnership is going to grow.

What a nice message to see in my inbox! We've been working with a start-up ecomm store in the outdoor fashion and apparel industry The difference with this start-up? ✅ A genuine understanding of their customer, meaning product-market fit is 😙 👌 ✅ They are driven by a bigger mission, beyond ecomm revenue (h/t Jay Papasan) ✅ They're in this for the long haul, so they understand the importance of laying SEO and brand building foundations early on ✅ Their vision is matched by a calculated but reasonable budget We're still very early days in, but we feel really good about the direction and progress for these guys. #startup #ecommerce #goals #milestone

UK Fashion Resale peer-to-peer #Startup NOLD €1 million in seed #funding. The funding is led by Tilia Impact Ventures and #sponser by a #consortium of venture capital and strategic investors, including Depo Ventures, Czech Founders, Sofia Angels Ventures, New Vision 3 and four angel #investors. NOLD helps #environmentally #friendly, high-end luxury #companies create extra #revenue #streams by #leveraging on the second-hand market, thereby #encouraging a circular #economy in the #fashion sector. The platform for NOLD is #expected to go live in Q1 2024 with an eye on the UK market. With a #leapfrog peer-to-peer hub which #involves you and your clients in the circular #economy in the #smartest, most #frictionless way #imaginable to remove the impact of #fashion, NOLD—quite #literally the point of #intersection between “new” and “old”—redefines the #concept of #fashion resale. NOLD Tilia Impact Ventures Venture Capital DEPO Ventures Czech Founders Sofia Angels Ventures To share your startup story write us on - [email protected] #nold #funding #eustartup