Lithuania’s Vinted raises $27M more to grow its secondhand clothing marketplace globally

Vinted, a marketplace for people to buy, swap, or donate unwanted clothing, has raised another $27 million to grow into new markets outside Europe and the U.S.

Founded out of Vilnius, Lithuania in 2008, Vinted claims north of 11 million members around the world, and is open for business in the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, Austria, Poland, Czech Republic, and Lithuania, though it is particularly active in France and Germany. In April last year, Facebook announced it was expanding to serve ads outside its own network, with Vinted one of the launch partners for the initiative.

The company had raised almost $33 million before today’s announcement, including a $27 million round last year, so this takes its total funding past the $60 million mark.The latest round was led by Germany-based media company Hubert Burda Media, with participation from Accel and Insight Venture Partners.

Careful to avoid the sullied associations of “secondhand” garments, Vinted touts its platform for “pre-loved” clothing and accessories that lets anyone post items of clothes for sale to other members, or trade for different sizes or styles. It does so through the Web and apps for iOS and Android.

Above: Vinted founders: Milda Mitkute & Justas Janauskas

Image Credit: Vinted

With $27 million more in its coffers, the company plans to expand into new markets where it has yet to gain a foothold. But this round also helps to highlight another hub of startup activity, away from the likes of London, Berlin, Barcelona, Dublin, Helsinki, or Stockholm. With a population of almost three million people, Lithuania doesn’t often hit the mainstream startup radar. Last year, reports suggested that Lithuanian startups had attracted €46 million (USD$50 million) in investments, however €20 million of that was Vinted, and €21 million was YPlan — a company that’s certainly going places but is actually headquartered in London. For now, Vinted is probably the highest-profile startup flying the flag for Lithuania.

The secondhand clothing market has a number of big players already. Besides eBay, which is obviously a marketplace for everything, there’s San Francisco-based Threadflip which has raised around $20 million in funding to date. And there’s Poshmark, which is also based in California, and which raised $25 million earlier this year, taking its total funding to $45 million.

Multiple startups suggest a big demand for marketplaces dedicated to single niches, such as fashion and lifestyle. And where the demand appears to exist, the VC funding often follows.