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December 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 6
#unicorn. Vinted, 2nd hand clothes marketplace, is also contributing to fighting #climate_change through #reuse.”
We are approaching an inflection point in the market for second-hand fashion; consumers around the world are becoming increasingly conscious of their buying choices,” Plantenga said. “We’re grateful to our new and existing backers who believe in our mission to make second-hand the first choice worldwide. Today’s investment is an endorsement of the future market opportunity and of our approach to maximise value generation for our members.”
Lithuania’s growing startup scene
The news of Vinted’s unicorn status was warmly welcomed within Lithuania, with the Lithuanian foreign ministry tweeting: "@vinted, an online used-clothing retailer, raised 128 million euros ($140 million) in a funding round that valued it at more than 1 billion and became #Lithuania's first tech #unicorn.”
Research presented by Startup Lithuania earlier this month finds that 2018 was a record year for venture capital Investments in the Baltic states, with a total
of €534mn raised by companies in the region, up from €411mn in 2017 and €111mn in 2016.
Until the new funding round for Vintech, Estonia – which the report notes has “vastly bigger” venture capital resources Latvia or Lithuania – was the only country that had created tech unicorns, accounting for one-third of the total unicorns in the CEE region.
Across the region over €1.5bn worth of venture capital has been invested since 2013, with the largest share going to Estonia. However, Lithuania also performs well in regional comparison; the country ranks #4 in CEE and #2 in the Baltics in terms of invested venture capital.
However, the report adds, “Looking at the so- called rising stars – companies that show the growth of a potential future unicorn – Lithuania and Latvia show a fast-growing number of these startups. This a clear sign that the startup ecosystem in these countries is quickly maturing.” The study was prepared by Contrarian Ventures, Startup Lithuania, Koinvesticinis fondas, TGS Baltic and dealroom.co.
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