Good things come in threes, as our investment journey with refurbed shows. We could not be happier to support the company for the third time, and we can't help but marvel at the milestones refurbed has achieved since our first interaction at Slush 2018. Even though we didn’t have a fund back then, we had the chance to speak with the team for the first time. A year later, the company had grown rapidly, and we fell in love with the execution, traction, and the market. A little while later, we ended up leading the Series A in early 2020.

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Nothing describes the pace of the achievements better than a story shared by the CEO and co-founder of refurbed, Peter Windischhofer. After founding the company, the team worked tirelessly. After a while, Peter and his co-founder Kilian Kaminski decided to go to a lake house over the weekend to relax with good friends. To their surprise, they sold ten phones over the weekend, marking a significant milestone for the company. Peter described this as the moment when they had made it with Kilian and Jürgen. Fast forward six years, and the ten phones have escalated to over a billion euros in sales. Today, refurbed stands as the fourth most funded VC-backed company in Austria based on Crunchbase data.

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Having had the chance to follow the company from late 2018, two key things stand out. Please bear with us, as these are VC clichés!  With refurbed, we have seen an exceptional founding team and a sizeable, rapidly growing market come together. refurbed's continuous growth, efficiency, and customer retention underline the team's execution capabilities. Their relentless focus on quality, whether it is regarding the products, customer service, or merchant relationships, has propelled the company's rapid growth.

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All this has also been supported by the market. Sure, the market is difficult as you areplaying together with big names like Apple and Amazon while also tackling direct competition. Despite all of this, the massive size and growth of the refurbished electronics market, coupled with increasing regulatory support and shifting consumer preferences towards quality, sustainable second-hand products, have created a strong tailwind for the company.

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With this funding round, refurbed has a strong cash position, setting the stage for continued efficient growth. As the team maintains its performance and the market continues to grow, we're excited about the prospects of the next five years. And if the past is any indication of the future, we expect the next billion to come a lot faster than the first. Congratulations on the round and your achievements Peter, Kilian, and Jürgen!