BackMarket, a French start-up that wants to be a marketplace for refurbished smart phones, tablets and laptops, has secured a 41 million euro investment. The most famous new investor is Bernard Arnault, CEO of luxury group LVMH.
Goal: enter American market
Arnault, the richest man in France, has joined forces with Eurazeo (an investment fund from France and Luxembourg) and other, unnamed investors. The sizes of each individual investment and the total valuation of the start-up also remain undisclosed. BackMarket needs the investment for its planned conquest of the American market: “We want to become a truly global player”, says CEO Thibaud Hug de Larauze in the French media. He expects the market of refurbished devices to explode, as do new investors Eurazeo: “The potential is enormous, meaning up to several billion euro.”
Unlike Dutch competitor Leapp, that went bankrupt earlier this week, BackMarket remains a pure online player. A good call, say analysts: in its fruitful early years the Dutch company also was a pure online player, and it was its rapid expansion to brick stores that ultimately cost too much money and killed off the company.
