H&M invests in Sellpy again, now majority owner of re-commerce platform

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Oct 10, 2019

Barely a day goes by at the moment when we don’t hear news about developments in resale and Thursday was no different with a very big development. H&M Group said that it has increased its investment in ‘re-commerce’ platform Sellpy and it’s now the majority owner of the company.

The new follow-on investment will support Sellpy’s international expansion and “also supports H&M Group’s strategic work to become fully circular,” it said.

The company started investing in Sellpy back in 2015, and has taken part in all its investment rounds since then through its investment arm CO:LAB. Now, with the latest round it has gone from being a minority shareholder to holding a roughly 70% controlling stake in Sellpy.

Through CO:LAB it had invested around SEK50 million (€4.6m/£4.1m) in Sellpy over the past four years and recently, it also bought 'secondaries' for SEK92 million and made a follow-on investment of SEK40 million. In addition, it will invest SEK60 million (in two different instalments) within the next few years and that will give it around a 74% stake.

So what’s behind this? The company said second-hand is one of the fastest growing business sectors within the fashion industry, helping to boost “a sustainable, modern and personal customer offer and experience.” H&M wants to be part of this “business opportunity… as it helps customers give their old clothes a new life through re-use, thus contributing to a closed loop for fashion.”

Sellpy was founded in 2014 and is now preparing for international expansion, starting with Germany.

Its CEO Michael Annör said he’s “excited to continue to work even closer with H&M Group to empower everyone to live circular, regardless if they live in Sweden or elsewhere. With [their] support we can continue to innovate and drive awareness and adoption of re-commerce.”

CO:LAB makes investments in several different areas in fashion and retail but all with a focus on “innovative business models, sustainable fashion and enablers,” H&M said, adding that “these mutual collaborations allow H&M Group, together with leading entrepreneurs in the industry, to explore what the future of fashion could be.”

Nanna Andersen, Head of CO:LAB, said “we keep investing in Sellpy because we strongly believe in the company and the founders. [It] has a unique circular business model, which perfectly aligns with H&M Group’s vision to become fully circular.”