Faircado raises 3 million euros to facilitate second-hand purchases

The young startup Faircado wants to make it easier to buy second-hand products.

Berlin-based Faircado has created a browser extension designed to promote the circular economy. The idea is simple: thanks to artificial intelligence, the extension uses a combination of image and text matching to suggest second-hand alternatives when you search for a product on the Internet. Faircado supports 1,600 sites, including Amazon, Zalando, Patagonia and Apple. These recommendations come from over 50 partners, including eBay, Back Market, Grailed, Rebuy, Vestiaire Collective...

Facilitating the transition to a circular economy

The extension is currently in beta with a few thousand users. The company has not disclosed the volume of trade generated so far, but gives a hint: the average basket size is around €200, with "several purchases per user per month". Although it is possible to download and use the Faircado extension from anywhere, the company is focusing on expansion in Germany and plans to launch in the UK.

Faircado was founded in 2022 by Evoléna de Wilde d'Estmael (CEO & Founder) and Ali Nezamolmaleki (Co-Founder & CTO). They met at AirHelp, supported by Y Combinator. Where did the idea come from? "I've been a fan of second-hand items all my life and managed to convince my friends to move away from Amazon, IKEA or Zara and adopt a more sustainable way of consuming. When you're looking for a second-hand item, the experience is usually long, inconvenient and unsexy. We wanted to make the process more accessible," explains Evoléna. For the young woman, the extension is just the first step in directing consumers towards more sustainable sources of purchase. The company is also looking to develop native mobile applications.

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Raising funds to expand in Europe

The company has just raised 3 million euros in a financing round led by the World Fund. Accel, General Catalyst, Lightspeed Venture Partners, NEA, Northzone, BackBone Ventures, Earlybird and the Minc gas pedal also participated. Tim Schumacher, partner at the World Fund, which invests in green businesses, believes that decarbonization starts with buying "fewer new goods". Why did you invest in Faircado? Faircado was almost an accident that we stumbled upon. We've been following them since their early days, and they've made a huge amount of progress on the AI front. "In his view, the extension helps toalleviate the friction associated with changing consumer behavior regarding thepurchase of second-hand goods.

The funds raised will enable the company to strengthen its development and marketing teams. The aim is to double its current workforce of 10 by the end of the year. In 2023, to support its growth, the start-up recruited Oliver Hale as COO, who had previously created the Buckit second-hand marketplace.

The startup is in direct competition with Beni, which also offers an extension for US-based buyers, and Gently, which acts as a second-hand clothing aggregator. Faircado hopes, however, that its positioning in Europe will be a key growth driver.

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