European startups, investors, and accelerators

VVinted

Vinted is Europe’s largest online marketplace for second-hand fashion, and Lithuania’s first tech unicorn. Founded in 2008 in Vilnius by Milda Mitkutė and Justas Janauskas, Vinted started as a simple site to sell unwanted clothes peer-to-peer – an idea born when Mitkutė needed to downsize her wardrobe before moving. Over the years, Vinted expanded to become a pan-European platform with over 80 million members in 18 countries. Users (primarily young women, but also men and kids’ parents) can buy and sell second-hand clothes, accessories, home goods, and more. Vinted’s appeal lies in its easy-to-use app and low fees: listing items is free, and the buyer pays a small “Buyer Protection” fee (around 5%) which covers payment insurance and customer support. The company generates revenue from these fees and optional shipping or bump services. Vinted’s growth has been explosive in recent years as second-hand shopping went mainstream. In 2019, Vinted raised €128M at a €1 billion valuation, officially becoming a unicorn – and notably the first from Lithuania. By mid-2021, it raised an additional €250M round at a €3.5 billion valuation and then a €300M round in 2021–2022 valuing it around €5 billion. This made Vinted one of Europe’s most valuable privately-held marketplaces. The platform’s transaction volume and revenue have been growing 50–60% YoY; in 2024, it posted €813M in revenue (+36%) with a net profit of €76.7M – a rare profitable unicorn. Vinted has aggressively expanded: it acquired several competitors (like United Wardrobe in the Netherlands and trendsales.dk in Denmark), and launched new markets such as Canada. It has also diversified into logistics (launching Vinted Go drop-off/pick-up services) and payments (Vinted Pay). With its mission “to make second-hand the first choice,” Vinted taps into sustainability trends and offers an affordable alternative to fast fashion. Its community-driven model and strong unit economics position Vinted as not just a Baltic success story, but a global leader in recommerce, standing shoulder to shoulder with Poshmark or ThredUp in the US.