Indian recommerce startup nets $90m in series E money

Cashify, an India-based recommerce marketplace, has closed a US$90 million series E round, which saw participation from NewQuest Capital Partners, Prosus, and Paramark Ventures.

Cashify co-founders Amit Sethi (left), Mandeep Manocha (second to left), Nakul Kumar (second to right), and Siddhant Dhingra (right) / Photo credit: Cashify

The Indian startup’s existing investors that participated in this round include Bessemer, Blume Ventures, and Olympus Capital.

The new funds will be used to further develop Cashify’s team, marketing efforts, technology infrastructure, and market expansion.

Founded in 2013 by Mandeep Manocha, Siddhant Dhingra, Nakul Kumar, and Amit Sethi, Cashify provides aftersale services such as repairs and buybacks to extend the lifespan of gadgets. The company intends to make the purchase of pre-owned devices commonplace, specifically focusing on smartphones, for which India is the world’s second-largest market. Besides smartphones, the company also sells laptops, desktops, tablets, and gaming consoles.

In March 2021, the firm raised US$15 million in a series D round led by Asia Environmental Partners. With the series E round, its valuation has jumped by 2.5x.

Embracing the circular economy

Speaking to Tech In Asia, Cashify co-founder and CEO Manocha notes that only 10%-15% of consumers trade in their used devices.

“Our focus is to bring those 85% phones back into the mainstream,” he added.

The app enables users to evaluate and get a resale price on an old mobile phone. It also offers users home-pickup services for the devices.

The platform is also looking to put its funding into marketing efforts to shore up trust in purchasing refurbished phones.

Cashify is also focused on expanding the value-addition side of its operations, scaling refurbishment, and repair capabilities. It also wants to pioneer technology to automate how these devices are being tested as well as hire more riders and technicians to collect and fix devices.

To help build further trust for the company, Cashify also plans on expanding its offline presence. It currently has 120 stores across 45 Indian cities and is planning on expanding to 260 stores across 200 cities within the year.

Market downturn puts secondhand in style

Manocha said that the current economic headwinds are actually great for the recommerce business.

From March 2021 to April 2022, the company racked up 600 crore rupees (US$76.9 million) in revenue. Cashify is now aiming for a growth in revenue of 2.5x this year to about 1,500 crore rupees (US$191.7 million).