H&M is furthering its progress towards a more “circular” business model as it increases its investment in a reselling start-up.
The fashion retailer has now invested around €4.6 million (SEK 50 million) into the “re-commerce” platform Sellpy, making it the majority owner with a share of 70%. H&M plans to spend an addition €5.5 million into the company over the next few years, giving it a 74% stake.
Founded in 2014, Sellpy offers a consumer portal for selling second-hand clothing. It will use the funding from H&M to expand from Sweden into Germany.
H&M first invested in Sellpy 2015 and has been gradually increasing its stake in the company.
In the long term, the retailer views second-hand clothing as one of the fastest growing sectors in fashion.
Nanna Andersen, head of H&M’s investment arm CO:LAB, said: “We keep investing in Sellpy because we strongly believe in the company and the founders. Sellpy has a unique circular business model, which perfectly aligns with H&M Group’s vision to become fully circular.”
Michael Arnör, CEO of Sellpy, said: “We are excited to continue to work even closer with H&M Group to empower everyone to live circular, regardless if they live in Sweden or elsewhere. With the support of H&M Group we can continue to innovate and drive awareness and adoption of re-commerce.”
