Berlin-based Faircado, an AI-powered second-hand shopping assistant company, announced that it has secured €3M in a pre-seed round of funding.
The investment was led by the World Fund, a European climate VC. The round also saw participation from Accel, General Catalyst, Lightspeed Venture Partners, NEA, and Northzone, via the Slush 100 Startup Prize, as well as Impact Shakers.
The deal includes €1M from the World Fund, €1M from Slush VCs, and €150K from Impact Shakers. Additionally, the total €3M includes an initial €750K invested by BackBone Ventures, Earlybird, and Minc accelerators, along with Peak Capital and angels from Atomico in November 2022.
Tim Schumacher, General Partner at World Fund, says, “We see immense potential in Faircado’s mission to accelerate the transition to a circular economy.”
“Simply put; our society buys too much stuff, while our basements, bookshelves and closets are full of exactly the stuff other people want. At the same time, we tend to forget about this fact, which is why I love when Faircado automatically tells me while shopping on Amazon for example that “wait a minute, here’s the same stuff used, in great condition, yet 80 per cent cheaper”’.
Capital utilisation
The funds will support Faircado in expanding its team, entering new markets in the UK and France, and advancing its image recognition technology.
Evoléna de Wilde d‘Estmael, co-founder and CEO of Faircado, says, “World Fund is an ideal partner for Faircado. Their expertise, expansive network and commitment to climate tech that bolsters a regenerative world will be instrumental as we scale our product.”
“Tim’s experience in founding and then scaling successful brands like Ecosia and Eyeo (the firm behind AdBlock), to millions of users and millions in revenue, provides invaluable insight into the intersection of mass-market consumer tech and circular economy principles.”
“With this latest funding, we aim to make sustainable choices more accessible and mainstream for millions of consumers.”
Reinventing second-hand shopping with AI precision
Founded in 2022 by Evoléna de Wilde d’Estmael and Ali Nezamolmaleki, Faircado offers an AI-powered browser extension. This tool helps shoppers automatically find second-hand options while they shop online, using a database of over 60 million products from 50 partners like eBay, Back Market, Grailed, Rebuy, and Vestiaire Collective.
The company uses advanced AI to gather information like product images, titles, and brands with its image-matching technology. This helps provide users with personalised second-hand shopping suggestions.
Faircado makes revenue by earning a percentage of sales made through its platform and by charging a fixed fee for each user directed to partner sites.
By 2030, the second-hand clothing market is expected to surpass fast fashion, as Gen Z wants more sustainable choices. However, only about 7 per cent of the world’s resources are currently recycled, and this number has been going down since 2018 due to more material being extracted.
Faircado wants to increase recycling and make shopping easier and more eco-friendly by promoting the purchase of second-hand items.
Currently, the company’s browser extension works with over 1,600 websites, including Amazon, Zalando, Patagonia, and Apple, offering second-hand options for fashion, electronics, and books. It also plans to add furniture and children’s items to its offerings, changing traditional retail in more areas.
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