Vinted

In 2008, while moving, Milda Mitkutė found she had too many clothes to take with her, and Justas Janauskas built a website for her to give the clothes away to friends; the two realized the idea had promise, and Vinted was founded in Vilnius, Lithuania. Mitkutė recalled that the two met at a house party, bonding over the shared frustration of moving too many clothes into a too-small university apartment.⁠[1][1][2][3]

Early users came mainly from Lithuania, Germany, and the Czech Republic; the platform was free for users and advertising revenue barely covered server costs. In 2012, the three co-founders, Milda Mitkutė, Justas Janauskas, and Mantas Mikuckas, launched a mobile app.⁠[4][5][5][5]

In 2013, Accel invested €5.2 million in Vinted; in 2014, Insight Partners led a €20 million Series B, when the platform had 3 million users; in 2015, the company completed a Series C with the participation of Burda Principal Investments. In 2013, the company made its first attempt to enter the US market, without success.⁠[6][4][6][5]

By 2016, Vinted still had not found a viable business model, and its national sites operated independently. The company had previously charged sellers a commission of about 20%, the same model as eBayeBayeBay Inc. is an online marketplace company headquartered in San Jose, California, United States, founded in 1995 by Pierre Omidyar; it started out with person-to-person online auctions and listed on Nasdaq in 1998. As of the end of 2025, it had 135 million active buyers, and its platform’s gross merchandise volume in 2025 was nearly $80 billion.Open the full entry and Poshmark, but users left in droves and traffic fell by almost half nearly overnight; the company was burning about $1 million a month and had only enough cash to last 9 to 12 months.⁠[4][4][5][5]

In May 2016, Thomas PlantengaThomas PlantengaThomas Plantenga is a Dutch business executive and the CEO of Vinted Group, the secondhand marketplace. He joined Vinted, then on the verge of collapse, as a consultant in 2016, led a turnaround that included scrapping seller commissions in favor of a buyer protection fee, and has been CEO since November 2017.Open the full entry, who was born in the Netherlands and was then living in New York and working on projects with OLX co-founder Fabrice Grinda, joined Vinted as a consultant for a five-week engagement at the invitation of investor Insight. During those five weeks, he and the co-founders drew up an aggressive transformation plan, after which he decided to stay.⁠[7][5][7][7][7][4][7]

The changes included closing the offices in San Francisco, London, Munich, and Paris, cutting staff from 240 to 150, and automating content moderation; on the product side, focusing on trust and safety between buyers and sellers and concentrating on two core markets, Germany and France; scrapping the seller commission in favor of a small buyer protection fee charged to buyers; and merging the multiple national apps into a single scalable technology platform.⁠[7][7][4]

Plantenga advised the three co-founders to put all their money into television advertising. After an intensive TV campaign in Germany, then the largest market, failed to lift sales, Vinted bet about $800,000 on French television, and downloads rose rapidly within seconds of the ads airing; an overhaul of customer support also helped sales recover. Mikuckas said Plantenga’s idea was that sellers were the most valuable part of the platform and could not be charged fees.⁠[5][5][5][5][4][5]

In November 2017, with the co-founders’ agreement, Plantenga took over as CEO, about a year and a half after arriving as a consultant. Over the whole of 2017, Vinted processed $360 million in transactions.⁠[5][4][7]

In late August 2018, Sprints Capital led a €50 million financing for Vinted, with participation from Burda Media, Insight Venture Partners, and Grinda’s FJ Labs; it was the largest round ever raised by a Lithuanian startup at the time. Plantenga said Insight and Accel had previously written the investment down to zero; the company had about $14 million in the bank when the turnaround began and $10 million left when the round closed. He also said that although the stake held by the founders and management team had fallen below 50%, they still retained control of the company and the board.⁠[7][7][7][7][7]

In 2019, Vinted acquired Chicfy, a Spanish secondhand fashion platform.⁠[4]

On November 28, 2019, Vinted announced a €128 million funding round led by new investor Lightspeed Venture Partners, with Sprints Capital, Insight Venture Partners, Accel, and Burda Principal Investments participating, at a valuation of more than €1 billion, making it Lithuania’s first unicorn startup. At the time, the company had more than 300 employees and planned to double its product and technology teams, with most new positions in Lithuania.⁠[8][8][8][8]

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, amid fears that sending parcels could spread the disease, Plantenga decided to pause trading on the platform, and the board supported him.⁠[4]

On October 27, 2020, Vinted announced the acquisition of United Wardrobe, the largest secondhand fashion platform in the Netherlands, for an undisclosed amount; the combined member base totaled 34 million across 11 European countries. United Wardrobe users were invited to migrate to Vinted, and its team was integrated into Vinted but remained in Utrecht.⁠[9][9][9][9][9]

On May 12, 2021, EQT announced that EQT Growth would lead Vinted’s €250 million Series F at a pre-money valuation of €3.5 billion, with EQT partner Carolina Brochado joining Vinted’s board. At the time, Vinted had more than 45 million members worldwide across 13 markets, including France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States.⁠[10][10][10][10]

That year, Vinted again attempted to enter the US market, again without success. After Plantenga announced ambitious expansion plans, Deven Parekh, managing director of Insight Partners and a Vinted board member, urged caution; Plantenga recalled that Parekh warned him the financial markets were about to collapse, and the company promptly adjusted its plan to become financially independent without relying on new funding.⁠[5][4][5][4][4]

On June 22, 2022, Vinted announced a change to its group structure: Adam Jay, who had joined earlier that year and had previously worked at Expedia Group and Hotels.com, became CEO of the Vinted Marketplace, and Plantenga became CEO of Vinted Group; at the same time, it set up a dedicated shipping brand, Vinted Go, which rolled out own-branded parcel lockers in the Paris area and was developing a digital shipping platform for third parties. At the time, Vinted had 65 million members across 16 markets in Europe and North America, with more than 300 million secondhand items listed.⁠[11][11][11][11][11][11]

On July 25, 2022, Vinted made a cash offer to the shareholders of Rebelle, a Stockholm-listed German secondhand luxury platform, at SEK 14.10 per share, for a total of about SEK 315 million (about €30 million); an independent committee of Rebelle’s board unanimously recommended accepting it. Plantenga said he had been following RebelleRebelleRebelle was a secondhand luxury and designer fashion marketplace founded in Hamburg, Germany, in 2013, which authenticated items and handled payment and shipping on sellers’ behalf. It listed on the Nasdaq First North Growth Market in Stockholm in February 2022, was acquired and delisted the same year by the Lithuanian secondhand marketplace Vinted, and ceased independent operation after being merged into Vinted in 2024.Open the full entry for several years and hoped to combine its luxury expertise with Vinted’s geographic reach and member base. On August 22, with shares representing 96.7% accepting the offer, Vinted declared the offer unconditional.⁠[12][12][13][12][13][13][14]

In 2023, Vinted obtained an electronic money institution licence from the Bank of Lithuania and subsequently launched Vinted Pay.⁠[15]

In January 2024, Vinted announced it would close the Rebelle platform and merge its functions into Vinted, with Rebelle users able to migrate until March 18; earlier, in October 2023, Vinted had already integrated Rebelle’s expert authentication service in Hamburg.⁠[16][16][16]

In February 2024, acting on complaints forwarded by the French data protection authority, Lithuania’s State Data Protection Inspectorate found that Vinted had failed to properly handle users’ requests to delete their data and had not sufficiently explained the reasons for blocking accounts; in July of that year, the Inspectorate fined Vinted €2.385 million over complaints from users in France and Poland. On May 22, 2025, Lithuania’s Regional Administrative Court dismissed Vinted’s appeal to overturn the findings. Vinted said the cases were unrelated to the security of member accounts and did not involve misuse or breach of personal data; litigation over the fine was suspended until that ruling became final, and the ruling could be appealed to the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania.⁠[17][17][17][17][17][17]

In March 2024, six months after entering Denmark, Vinted acquired the local secondhand marketplace Trendsales to strengthen its presence in the Nordics; Vinted had entered Finland and Sweden in 2022. In early 2024, Vinted closed its Canadian operations.⁠[18][18][5]

On April 30, 2024, Vinted reported its 2023 results: revenue of €596.3 million, up 61% year over year; it swung from a net loss of €20.4 million in 2022 to a net profit of €17.8 million, its first annual profit. Growth came from deeper penetration of existing markets and entry into new markets such as Romania, Denmark, and Finland, and headcount grew to 2,000.⁠[19][19][19][19]

On October 24, 2024, Vinted completed a €340 million secondary share sale at a valuation of €5 billion, led by TPG’s TPG Tech Adjacencies, with participation from Hedosophia, Baillie Gifford, Invus Opportunities, FJ Labs, and others; all existing institutional investors remained invested. The company said the transaction rewarded employees and early investors for their contributions.⁠[20][20][20][20][20]

Vinted Group’s 2024 revenue was €813.4 million, up 36% year over year; net profit rose from €17.8 million to €76.7 million, its second consecutive profitable year.⁠[21][21][21]

On January 14, 2026, Vinted Pay began rolling out its own wallet to members, into which sellers’ proceeds are transferred after a sale and can be used for purchases on the platform or withdrawn, initially covering countries including Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, and Greece. On January 22, Vinted announced its expansion in the United States and launched a campaign in New York, emphasizing that sellers pay no selling fees to list items.⁠[15][15][22][22]

On March 16, 2026, Vinted Pay received an electronic money institution licence from the UK Financial Conduct Authority, allowing it to issue electronic money and provide payment services in the United Kingdom.⁠[23][23]

On April 9, 2026, Vinted reported its 2025 results: marketplace gross merchandise value of €10.8 billion, up 47% year over year; revenue of €1.1 billion, up 38%; and net profit of €62 million, down 19%, due to increased investment in the German market, expansion of marketplace categories, extension of Vinted Go’s carrier services to Portugal and Spain, and the launch of the Vinted Pay wallet. In 2025, Vinted entered Latvia, Estonia, and Slovenia, and Vinted Go’s own carrier business covered Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain.⁠[24][24][24][24][24]

On April 27, 2026, Vinted completed an €880 million secondary share transaction at an equity valuation of €8 billion, led jointly by existing shareholder EQT and new investors Schroders Capital and Teachers’ Venture GrowthTeachers' Venture GrowthTeachers’ Venture Growth (TVG) is the late-stage venture capital and growth equity investment department of Canada’s Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan focused on technology companies; it was formerly Teachers’ Innovation Platform, set up in 2019, and has invested in companies including SpaceX, FTX, Vinted, and Harvey.Open the full entry, part of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan; funds and accounts managed by BlackRockBlackRockBlackRock is a publicly traded investment management company headquartered in New York, founded in 1988 by Larry Fink and seven others and listed on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker BLK); its businesses include the iShares family of exchange-traded funds and the Aladdin investment and risk management platform. As of June 30, 2026, its assets under management totaled $15.3 trillion.Open the full entry, Lombard Odier Investment Managers, and Pinegrove Opportunity PartnersPinegrove Capital PartnersPinegrove Capital Partners is a US investment firm set up in 2023 through a partnership between Brookfield Asset Management and Sequoia Heritage, providing secondary liquidity and structured capital solutions to the venture capital and growth-stage technology ecosystem; its secondary strategy operates as Pinegrove Opportunity Partners, and after acquiring SVB Capital in 2024 it has operated its venture investment platform as Pinegrove Venture Partners.Open the full entry participated as new investors, existing shareholders including Baillie Gifford increased their positions, and the transaction was significantly oversubscribed. Goldman Sachs International served as sole placement agent.⁠[25][25][25][25][25]

The company raised no new capital in the transaction, saying it had been cash flow positive for years and could invest in growth from its own resources; the transaction let employees share in the value created and provided liquidity for long-term investors. The valuation was 60% higher than the €5 billion of October 2024. The company said it was ready for an IPO but did not announce a timetable for a listing.⁠[25][25][25][2][2]

On June 30, 2026, responding to claims on social media linking Vinted listings to child trafficking, the company said that German police, the independent fact-checker Mimikama, and its own internal investigation had found no credible evidence of child trafficking, and that the ages shown in the listings referred to the age range the toys were intended for; the company said it was removing deliberately faked “trap” listings and taking action on the accounts involved, and was working with authorities including the French Office for Minors.⁠[26][26][26][26]

On July 1, 2026, Vinted launched in Australia, again charging sellers no selling fees.⁠[27][27]

In September 2026, Oxfam published a report based on modelling commissioned from RDC Environnement, finding that for every 5 kg of clothing, the carbon footprint was 0.6 kg of CO2 when circulated through charity shops, 2.9 kg through commercial secondhand shops, and 3.1 kg through platforms such as Vinted, and arguing that the business model of digital platforms relies more on intensifying transactions than on reducing consumption.⁠[28][28][28]

Vinted has expanded from clothing into adjacent categories such as electronics; in 2025, Plantenga said the company had entered mobile phones and was moving into collectibles. The group consists of the Vinted Marketplace, the shipping business Vinted Go, and the payments business Vinted Pay, is headquartered in Vilnius, and as of April 2026 had more than 2,200 employees. The company says that every funding round since 2015 has also provided liquidity for long-term investors.⁠[29][4][29][29][25]

Vinted: Official website: https://www.vinted.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[30]

Vinted Group: Official website: https://company.vinted.com/newsroom (opens in a new window).⁠[31]

LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry: Public profile: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vinted/ (opens in a new window)⁠[31]