Back Market, a premier refurbished marketplace dedicated to electronics, today announced a Series D investment round of €276 million led by General Atlantic with the support of Generation Investment Management, as well as existing investors Aglaé Ventures, Eurazeo, Goldman Sachs Growth Equity and daphni.
Back Market was one of the first refurbished electronics marketplaces in Europe, founded in 2014, and has since established its pre-eminence in this market. While it has proven itself to be one of the main players in France and Spain, as well as Germany, the company intends to continue bolstering its position in these countries and throughout Europe.
Back Market’s CEO, Thibaud Hug de Larauze, explained: “Our goal now goes beyond making renewed tech a viable option. We want to make it the first choice for electronics purchases. The support and confidence of these prominent funds, together with our growing customer base, marks an important step in Back Market’s journey, and more importantly for the refurbished sector as a whole.”
Earlier this year, Back Market announced an investment of €25 million for operations in Germany. With this inflow of funds, the company will be recruiting aggressively for its German development and investing to secure its position even more decisively in strategic countries, while continuing its ambitious expansion plans in Europe and beyond.
Back Market recently launched in Finland, Portugal, Ireland, and Japan, taking the company’s operations to a total of 13 countries. The company will soon be opening its doors in Greece, Sweden, Slovakia and Canada.
Back Market has 1,500 sellers on its platform and counting. As more sellers and brands embrace refurbished, and join the company, it is more important than ever to ensure high quality. Back Market is dedicated to continuing to ensure strong quality control to expand the appeal of refurbished products to a widening customer base.
“Renewed electronics are already the more cost-effective and more sustainable choice versus buying new; now that we are beginning to successfully eliminate the gap in quality, we are gearing up to go toe-to-toe with the $1.5 trillion new device market,” said CEO, Thibaud Hug de Larauze.
According to Vianney Vaute, Back Market’s Chief Creative Officer: “It’s a very positive signal that these investors and consumers alike are bullish on the circular economy. Times are changing, and we are positioned to have a real and lasting impact on the way people purchase electronics—and the sustainability of the electronics industry as a whole.”
Chris Caulkin, Managing Director and Head of Technology for EMEA, General Atlantic: “We are excited to support Back Market, a category-defining business which is re-shaping and growing the refurbished electronics market globally. Back Market has built a strong consumer brand centered around quality, sustainability, convenience and affordability. We look forward to working with Thibaud, Quentin, Vianney and the full Back Market team as they accelerate their expansion into new categories and geographies”.