Depop Raises $62M To Expand Tech, US Presence

Depop, the U.K. startup that operates an app where individuals sell items on social feeds, has raised $62 million in venture funding. According to a report, the Series C round was led by General Atlantic. Additional investors included HV Holtzbrinck Ventures, Balderton Capital, Creandum, Octopus Ventures, TempoCap and Sebastian Siemiatkowski, founder and CEO of Klarna, the Swedish payments company.

The startup raised $40 million in the last round of funding. Depop declined to discuss its valuation with the reporting publication.

The company plans to use the funding to boost its technology for recommendations and images, as well as to expand in the U.S. CEO Maria Raga said the U.S. is becoming its largest market, with five million current users and a projected 15 million in three years, despite intense competition from fierce rivals. With the popularity of social shopping, rival apps are popping up to provide tools and platforms, including Poshmark, Vinted, Instagram and Pinterest, noted the report.

Depop is targeted at millennials and members of Generation Z, with 90 percent of its active users aged 26 and under. One-third of all 16 to 24-year-olds in the U.K. are registered on Depop, the company noted. Depop has seen 100 percent year-over-year revenue growth for several years. It has brought in gross merchandise value of around $500 million, calculating a 10 percent cut the company takes, noted the report.

Depop’s popularity comes as younger generations embrace a different way of shopping for fashion. According to Raga, trends are now set by individuals and not just brands. “You can now start a fashion business from your bedroom,” she noted in the interview.

Depop started out by letting individuals sell their used items by taking a photo on their mobile device. It shifted as the trend moved toward purchasing limited-edition items and then reselling them through social news feeds. Raga said top sellers on the platform make $100,000 a year.