糖心视频

The secondhand retail market is getting bigger.

Kream, a secondhand clothing marketplace, announced on Thursday it raised $168 million in Series C funding, according to . The fresh funding put its valuation at $742 million and was led by , a longtime investor in the company. , , and participated in the round.聽

The company allows users to buy and sell secondhand luxury goods such as vintage clothing and designer bags.聽

While the biggest tech companies have reported disappointing quarterly earnings, Kream has been doing pretty well. The company doubled its monthly active users between last October and March.

The circular economy revolution

Secondhand retail platforms have seen some action since the pandemic. While most industries saw a funding drop between 2021 and 2022, 2022 was the secondhand retail startup sector鈥檚 best year ever, garnering over $2 billion in venture funding according to Crunchbase data.

as people were stuck indoors. (acquired by Naver in January), started in 2011 and quickly became one of the most popular apps for reselling clothing, going public in 2021. , a popular fashion rental marketplace, also went public in 2021. , a peer-to-peer luxury resale platform similar to Kream, was acquired by Paris-based in 2022.聽

Kream and companies like it are part of a budding genre in fashion invested in the 鈥渃ircular economy,鈥� the idea that fashion should revolve around repairs, resale and rentals. According to the , fast-fashion is responsible for 鈥� more than aviation and shipping combined.

The secondhand reselling industry is growing too. Many platforms are adopting AI and automation tools to make the process of selling clothing as frictionless as possible. Software programs aimed at suggesting price points and descriptions, as well as tools that authenticate designer goods, have also come onto the scene.聽

Illustration: Dom Guzman