Lithuania-based Tingit bags €500K to transform fashion repairs and boost circular economy

Vilnius-based Tingit, a zero-effort fashion repairs marketplace, announced that it has secured €500K in a pre-seed round of funding from a group of international VC funds. 

The round was led by Lithuanian VC fund Firstpick, with participation from Latvia-based BADideas.fund, Czech Republic-based PurposeTech, and Germany’s Heartfelt Capital.

A fashion repairs marketplace

Indrė Viltrakytė co-founded Tingit in 2023 with three partners including Robertas Kalinkinas and Tadas Maslauskas, drawing from her 15 years in the fashion industry where she witnessed firsthand the issues of overproduction and overconsumption. 

With 92 million tons of textile waste generated globally each year and items often discarded after just seven to ten wears, Tingit aims to address this by promoting circular business models.

The startup aims to transform the repairs industry and support the circular economy by making repairs more accessible and convenient. Tingit connects consumers with repair specialists, providing a repair experience with integrated service booking, payment, and shipping.

The company’s app, initially focused on fashion items, promotes eco-friendly practices and reduces fashion waste. 

Co-founder Viltrakytė, says, “We are entering the repair economy. Brands like Zara and Uniqlo have recently introduced after-sales repairs. There are over 300,000 clothing retail businesses in Europe that will eventually join this move towards more sustainable consumption. With Tingit, we are committed to being at the forefront of this societal shift.”

Viltrakytė envisions Tingit as a global sustainability marketplace for “frictionless” repairs. She adds, “We want to be the first name that comes to mind when people think about any kind of repair.”

Capital utilisation

Tingit has completed over 600 orders and handled more than 2,500 repair requests, with many coming from returning clients, due to its streamlined process.

Tingit plans to use the raised capital to launch the Service Provider Gateway, allowing repair specialists to offer their services independently through the platform. An upcoming API will enable brands, e-commerce sites, and marketplaces to integrate Tingit’s repair network into their operations.

Tadas Maslauskas, co-founder and CTO at Tingit, says, “Users upload a quick video and we provide a quote for the best possible repair services tailored to that specific item. This way, we remove the hassle of selecting a service upfront, as many people aren’t sure what is even possible when it comes to repairs.”

Following its success in Lithuania, Tingit aims to expand to other countries in early 2025 and explore additional industries like sports goods, toys, and consumer electronics.

According to a statement, the VC investors see value in tech-driven solutions that extend the lifespan of goods and support sustainable consumerism, similar to the success of Lithuania’s unicorn Vinted, an online marketplace for secondhand clothes.

CEO Viltrakytė adds, “We own a lot of things and everything breaks at some point. Our possessions need and can be maintained to remain in use. We want to make repairs so simple it becomes a habit, just like brushing your teeth.”