The Viennese startup Refurbed has raised fresh capital. The proud sum of two million euros will be borne in part by the Londonbased VC Atomico, which was founded by Skype co-founder Niklas Zennström. Atomico is one of the largest European VCs and also invested in the payment startup Klarna. But most of the money goes to Inventure Partners.
Among the largest seed investments in Austria
The 2 million euros are among the largest seed investments that have ever existed in Austria. The investment helps them to further strengthen our market position and further develop the product, says refurbed founder Peter Windischhofer. The new investors also included existing shareholders, including Speedinvest and Pioneers Ventures.
30,000 customers, 30 employees
Refurbed is an online shop where customers can order overhauled smartphones, tablets or notebooks. Since they already had an owner, they are sometimes up to 40 percent cheaper. Refurbed acts as a broker to traders from Europe who sell the refurbished equipment. There are now 30 people working for the startup and, according to the latest release, 30,000 customers have already bought from refurbed. Every refurbed device whether iPhone, laptop or food processor, looks like new and works like a new one, says co-founder Kilian Kaminski.
Growth market Germany
Refurbed is now active in Austria, Germany, Poland and Italy. Above all, Germany has turned out to be a growth market. 70 percent of the sales of Refurbed devices are attributable to this market. “We believe that Refurbed can become the leading player for refurbished products in Europe or even beyond. We see great potential in this team, “says Inventure Partners CEO Sergey Azatyan.
Also published on Medium.