How an app selling secondhand clothes went from near collapse to worth $5 bn
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. VILNIUS, Lithuania—Thomas Plantenga was working as a consultant in New York when he was summoned to this Baltic capital more known for its medieval architecture than its tech scene. The 2016 assignment was to spend five weeks with a startup called Vinted that was growing fast but struggling to reach profitability as a platform for selling secondhand clothes.
After just three weeks, Plantenga issued his advice: Fire most of the staff, rebuild the app and rip up the business model. He even suggested to the founders that they close all other offices around the world, and operate solely from Vilnius. To Plantenga’s surprise, they agreed to everything.
“That was the moment I got scared," he said, “I felt responsible." Plantenga stuck around, and was named chief executive officer a year later. Today Vinted is changing the way millions of people shop and dress. In France and the U.K., its top markets, about one person in four is buying or selling on the Vinted platform.
The app has a limited presence in the U.S. but is planning to make a big push there as soon as next year. Vinted is now valued at 5 billion euros, equivalent to $5.26 billion, following a secondary share sale to investors including U.S.
asset manager TPG in October. In 2023, Vinted’s revenue increased 61% year-on-year to €596 million, and it made its first annual profit, of €18 million. The Baltic startup is challenging the view long held by most fashion brands that the secondhand market is a loss-making sideshow.
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