Childrenswear resale platform Retykle has closed its Pre-Series A funding round, bringing total funding to USD2.2 million.
The latest round was led by Singapore-based venture capital firm Pine Ventures, whose portfolio includes kids’ entertainment company Pinkfong Babyshark and gaming company Spatial.
Founded in Hong Kong in 2016 by Sarah Garner, Retykle’s online marketplace offers gently used and new past-season items from over 2,500 leading children’s designer clothing brands and estimates recirculating about 250,000 products among buyers and sellers. The new funding will be allocated toward developing its new ‘resale as a service’ technology, market expansion, and building out a senior leadership team for Retykle, which currently has offices in Hong Kong and Singapore.
“We have been focused on making the resale process frictionless and plan to further that mission by allowing users to save their firsthand purchases from other retailers, to sell later at Retykle in a single click. This will allow for synchrony between firsthand retail and secondhand which we are excited to bring to market for this high rotation, high obsolescence category which necessitates circular solutions,” Retykle founder and chief executive officer Sarah Garner tells Retail in Asia.
“Each time you purchase something for your kids, you know that it will be outgrown shortly afterward and it should be effortless to pass on and earn money back on those purchases with ease. We are building this bridge with brands to allow resale to be commonplace and further propel our collective impact.”
Garner adds Retykle continues to assess its next market entry, but “have our sights set on the US market.”
SEE ALSO: Vestiaire Collective founder Fanny Moizant on raising the bar for resale
“As a venture capitalist with extensive consumer tech investments across Asia especially in the pre-school category, Retykle stood out to us with its distinctive model and great potential,” says Hyuk-tae Kwon, co-founder and chief executive officer at Pine Venture Partners. “We focus on investing in a few excellent companies with strong leadership, unique technology, clear business plan and growth strategy, and we found all these factors present in Retykle and the team led by Sarah. The fashion industry is ripe for disruption, and advancing circular consumption is a clear win for sustainability and for all players in the fashion industry.”