Austrian startup Refurbed raises €15.6 million

Refurbed, an Austrian startup that sells repaired electrical appliances, has raised 15.6 million euros. It’s one of the highest investments in the Austrian start-up industry.

Through an online marketplace, Refurbed sells refurbished electrical devices that look and work like new, but are sold for a price that normally comes with a used product. The market for these refurbished smartphones, laptops and other devices is growing.

Money came from international investors

This week, the Vienna-based company announced an investment of 15.6 million euros. The money from this Series A round comes from a group of international investors, led by Finnish venture capitalist Evli Growth Partners.

With the money, Refurbed wants to strengthen its market presence in Germany an open in three other markets in Europe. It’s still unclear which countries exactly, but managing director Peter Windischhofer says they are looking at an Eastern European, a Scandinavian and the UK market.

One of highest investments in Austrian startup

According to Der Standard, the amount of money raised by Refurbed is one of the highest Series A investments a startup in Austria has ever received. It’s unknown how many company shares Refurbes gave for this. “We founders still hold more than 50 percent of the shares”, Windischhofer explains.

The founders still own more than 50% of shares.

80 retailers sell their products through Refurbed

There are about 80 retailers who sell their products on the Refurbed platform. The sold products don’t have any data from the previous owner, while worn parts are replaced with new ones.

About Refurbed

Refurbed was founded in 2017. One year later, the company posted external sales of around 8 million euros, while in 2019 this was already more than 40 million euros. Refurbed itself collects a commission of 5 to 10 percent for each item sold.