The RealReal secures $115 million in Series G funding

By

Matthieu Guinebault

Published
Jul 26, 2018

Seven years after launch, US-based second-hand luxury platform The RealReal has announced the closing of a $115 million Series G financing round, laying out plans to use the funds to expand its brick-and-mortar footprint. 

This investment means that the company has managed to a secure a total of $228 million in financing since it was founded. The round of funding was led by PWP Growth Equity (Perella Weinber Partners), with Sandbridge Capital and Great Hill Partners also participating. PWP's co-founder Chip Baird will also be joining The RealReal's Board of Directors. 

"Over the last seven years, we have re-envisioned the experience of buying and selling luxury goods, and become a leader in the circular economy for luxury goods," explained the platform's CEO and founder Julie Wainwright in a release. "This new round of funding will allow us to expand our brick-and-mortar footprint into new markets, as well as support our growing supply of luxury goods with new e-commerce fulfillment centers."

The news comes after Wainwright described 2018 as "the year of the pop-up" for the company. At the end of 2017, The RealReal opened its first permanent store in New York – a 6,000-square-foot location at 80 Wooster Street, SoHo –, having previously tested out a two-month pop-up in its hometown of San Francisco, followed by another temporary location at the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas.  

The company has also announced that it will be opening a flagship at 8500 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles. Outside of San Francisco and Manhattan, The RealReal's network of consignment stores, which allow consumers to drop off products for sale or pick up purchases, now includes locations in Chicago, Dallas, Miami, Washington and Century City (Los Angeles). 

The RealReal currently has some 7 million subscribers and employs 600 people, having reported revenues of $400 million in 2017. It operates in a second-hand luxury market estimated to be worth around $18 billion, alongside platforms such as Vestiaire Collective, High Society, Edit Second Hand, Hewi London and Rewind Vintage.