Fleek, a wholesale second-hand fashion marketplace, has raised £17m ($20.4m) in funding.
The investment consists of a £12.3m ($14.8m) in Series A and a £4.7m ($5.6m) seed round.
The Series A funding round was led by HV Capital, with participation from Andreesen Horowitz (a16z) and Y Combinator.
High profile investors including Shopify’s President Harley Finkelstein, Depop’s ex-CEO Maria Raga, and Postmates’ co-founder and CTO Sean Plaice all took part in the round.
Fleek was founded in November 2021 by Abhi Arora and Sanket Agarwal with a mission to enable entrepreneurs in the circular economy to make second-hand first choice.
The co-founders identified one of the major barriers to growth for the second-hand clothing market was how difficult it is for businesses to source inventory – with the offline, global and very fragmented nature of the industry.
Arora and Agarwal built a platform that would make it easier for retailers and wholesalers of second-hand clothing from around the world to transact with each other.
Arora, co-founder and CEO of Fleek, said: “With this funding, we aim to get more businesses to start selling second-hand clothing and drive the shift toward sustainable shopping.”
Agarwal added: “The way to bring this very offline industry online is to build a product that has a dynamic social experience, fostering connections through chat and live shopping, and enabling transactions via seamless global payments and logistics.
“By enabling this new wave of circular economy entrepreneurs around the world to interact directly with each other, we hope to enhance the global trade of used clothing more efficiently.”
Felix Klühr, general partner at HV Capital said: “We are proud to invest in Fleek, a company that is redefining the second-hand fashion landscape.
“Fleek’s innovative approach to scaling the second-hand market globally reflects tremendous potential for growth.
“The marketplace not only addresses current industry needs but also paves the way for a more sustainable future in fashion. We’re excited to be part of this journey.”
Connie Chan, general partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) said: “We’re thrilled to partner with Fleek – their vision of optimizing the second-hand supply chain and simplifying inventory replenishment for resellers and retailers is impressive.
“We believe Fleek will bring untapped supply online, fostering trust in the ecosystem and significantly growing the wholesale market. Especially with the new Reworks business line, Fleek is well-positioned to serve a brand new generation of online and offline sellers.”
Fleek leverages AI and predictive analytics to forecast what’s selling in the second-hand industry, educates suppliers on these trends, and enables buyers to source across categories.
Fleek has offices in the UK, Pakistan and India.