Faircado, a Berlin-based company, has developed an add-on for your browser to address this problem. The company aims to become a platform where people can find used items. The World Fund led a round that raised €3 million for the company. Other accelerators that participated were Accel, General Catalyst, Lightspeed Venture Partners, NEA, Northzone, BackBone Ventures, Earlybird, and Minc.
This app uses picture and word matching to show you used options when you search for a product on Amazon, Zalando, or Patagonia. The idea behind it is pretty simple.
For example, if you want to buy a new iPhone on Amazon, the app will show you used iPhones from eBay and other sites. At the moment, Faircado’s extension works with electronics, books, and clothes.
The company said that the add-on works with 1,600 sites, such as Apple, Amazon, Zalando, and Patagonia. These picks come from more than 50 companies, such as Back Market, eBay, Grailed, Rebuy, and Vestiaire Collective.
You can download and use the Faircado app from anywhere. However, the company is pushing to grow in Germany first and plans to start in the U.K. later this year.
The app has a few thousand test users right now. The company didn’t say how much business it has helped with so far, but it did say that the average basket size is about €200 and that each person makes “multiple purchases per month.”
Evoléna de Wilde d’Estmael, together with Ali Nezamolmaleki, founded Faircado in 2022. Y Combinator backed AirHelp, where they first met.
De Wilde d’Estmael said she had the idea for the business while she was thinking about how to make it easier to find used things.
“I’ve always liked used things, and I could really get my friends to stop shopping at Amazon, IKEA, and Zara and start buying things in a more eco-friendly way.” The process of looking for used things was usually time-consuming, difficult, and not very exciting. Over the phone, she told Eltrys that she designed this process to make it easier for more people to use.
According to De Wilde d’Estmael, the increase is the first step towards using more eco-friendly shopping sources. Along with that, the business wants to make native mobile apps that will help people find used things.
Tim Schumacher, a partner at the World Fund, an organisation that invests in green businesses, said that people need to buy fewer new things in order to reduce carbon emissions. The fund chose to invest in Faircado because it is a key player in this process.
It was almost by chance that we found Faircado. We’ve been watching them since the beginning, and they did good work on AI as well. “So we decided it was a good place to put our money,” he told Eltrys on the phone. Additionally, he said that the extension also helps to lessen the problems that come up when people change how they buy used items.
It is possible for Faircado to make money from partner sales and clicks. The business doesn’t have any cash on hand yet because de Wilde d’Estmael said they want to focus on growth right now.
The business said it would use the money to hire more coders and marketing staff. By the end of the year, it wants to have 20 employees instead of 10. Oliver Hale, who had built the used goods platform Buckit, joined the company as COO last year.
Buoyant Ventures-backed Beni, which also offers an extension for U.S. shoppers, faces competition from the new company. There’s also Gently, a site that brings together people who want to buy used clothes. Faircado, on the other hand, hopes that its location in Europe will be a big part of its growth.
