Secondhand marketplace Vinted has launched its own corporate venture arm to back other “recommerce” startups amid record profits.
Through Vinted Ventures, the Lithuanian unicorn will target Series A to C investments with ticket sizes up to €10 million (about $11.4 million).
The firm’s investment focus is on recommerce—selling and buying of previously owned goods—which has become increasingly popular since the pandemic as inflation pushed the cost of consumer products higher. According to Statista, the US recommerce market was estimated to be worth over $200 billion last year, up from almost $140 billion in 2020.
Founded in 2008, Vinted has grown into one of Europe’s most valuable VC-backed companies. It was most recently valued at €5 billion following a secondary share sale in October.
In its 2024 financial results published Tuesday, the company reported €813.4 million in consolidated revenue, up 36% from 2023. Net profit was up 330% over the same period to €76.7 million. Vinted first achieved profitability in 2023.
Corporate venture arms are rare for companies backed by VC dollars. In recent years, however, several companies, such as OpenAI and Databricks, have set up their own investment arms, often to make strategic investments in their core parent activities.
As a whole, though, fewer VC deals feature corporate venture investors. According to PitchBook data, 2,294 rounds featuring CVCs closed this year, putting the year on track for the lowest deal participation since 2017.
Not only are CVCs participating in fewer deals, but their share of round count has declined. Last year, they were featured in 23% of investments, compared to 24.3% in 2023. For this year, 22.1% of overall VC deal count so far had corporate venture participation.
On the other hand, CVC deal value has grown, suggesting a flight to quality for corporate venture arms.
Featured image courtesy of Vinted
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