The online used goods marketplace letgo announced today they raised a $175 million Series C funding round. The round was led by Naspers, Accel, Insight Venture Partners, New Enterprise Associates and 14W.
“letgo has caught on faster than any of us could have anticipated, but our goal remains much bigger – to build the largest secondhand marketplace in the world,” said letgo co-founder Alec Oxenford in a statement. “This new funding will bring us much closer to that vision. We are powering a fast-expanding secondhand economy that benefits not just buyers and sellers, but also the environment. letgo already helps tens of millions of users globally think used before they think new.”
The company operates a popular marketplace that allows users to buy and sell used goods. In many ways, its services are similar to Craigslist or eBay, but letgo ups the ante by using artificial intelligence and image recognition to auto-title and categorize their listings. Because of this, users can post goods on the site in seconds, without typing a single word or entering a price — letgo’s algorithms take care of that instead.
The concept seems to appeal to investors as well as users. Though the company just launched in 2015, their app has been downloaded over 45 million times, allowing around 20 million active users to buy and sell goods valued in the billions every month. In fact, letgo said they grew their active user base by 356 percent last year, while increasing the number of items posted daily by 960 percent.
The company said the new funding will be used to accelerate their U.S. and international growth as well as further develop their artificial intelligence and image recognition capabilities.
The company currently maintains offices in New York and Barcelona. The new influx of capital brings the company’s total funding raised to $325 million.
