Refurbished electronics marketplace Back Market goes for the gold, adds another €450 million to the warchest

Announced after last night’s closing bell, Parisian refurbished electronics marketplace Back Market has raised €450 million in a Series E round. The fresh influx of fundings will be used to further the company’s growth plans, specifically in the US market. Since 2017, the scale-up has raised north of $1 billion, and as of May of last year, was sitting at a valuation of $3.2 billion, a number that has now risen to $5.7 billion.

With sustainability now a topic on everyone’s mind, the questions of “what happens to my old(er) stuff?” and “do I really need the absolutely newest version of X?”, have helped catapult Back Market to the lofty position it holds. And investors have taken note.

Back Market is currently active in 16 countries (including the United States, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Austria, the Netherlands, and more recently, Portugal, Japan, Finland, Ireland, Greece, Slovakia and Sweden), and employs a team of over 600 located in New York, Berlin, Paris and Bordeaux.

“Our goal is to make refurbished electronics the first choice for tech purchases. We expect to see a similar development in the electronics market as we have witnessed in the second-hand car market in America, where sales of second-hand vehicles have increased twofold compared to new car sales. The support and confidence of these funds, together with our growing customer base, marks an important step in Back Market’s journey, and more importantly, for the circular economy as a whole.” commented co-founder and CEO Thibaud Hug de Larauze.

Back Market’s €450 million Series E round was led by Sprints Capital and saw participation from existing investors including Eurazeo, Aglaé Ventures, General Atlantic, and Generation Investment Management.

“Consumer demand for sustainable solutions is a trend that Sprints has been investing in for over a decade. By prolonging the lifetime of millions of consumer electronics devices and providing low-cost access to the best products, Back Market changes the world for the better,” said Sprint Capital’s Henrik Perrson. “The company is well-positioned to become the global number one provider of sustainable tech.”