Funding Will Expand Team and Enhance Technology to Accelerate the Adoption of Resale
Beni, the easy button for secondhand shopping, announced the close of its seed round of $4M, led by Buoyant Ventures. This brings Beni to over $5M to date in funding from both its pre-seed and seed rounds.
Beni welcomes shoppers to the world of re-commerce by making it easier to find and buy secondhand apparel and accessories. When a shopper finds something they want, the browser extension suggests similar listings from leading resale sites.
With Poshmark’s recent acquisition by Naver and ThredUp’s projected revenue exceeding $82B by 2026, shoppers are clearly invested in supporting the circular fashion economy. Beni was designed with this in mind, enabling shoppers to save money and shop sustainably with the click of a button.
“We started Beni to make resale more accessible,” said CEO Sarah Pinner, who co-founded Beni with CTO Celine Mol. “Beni saves shoppers hours of scrolling and helps resale sites get the right inventory to the right shoppers. With this financial backing, we will grow our team and scale Beni to accelerate the adoption of resale.”
A women-owned company, Beni has been funded primarily by women in both the pre-seed and seed round. Buoyant Ventures is joined in the seed round by Better Ventures and pre-seed investors XYZ Venture Capital, Chingona Ventures, and Starting Line Ventures.
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“Beni will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and water use associated with fashion retail all while helping shoppers save money. Buoyant Ventures, a female-owned venture fund, is proud to support this female executive team who is on a mission to help transform the circular economy,” said Amy Francetic, Managing General Partner of Buoyant Ventures.
“Extending the life of our clothes is key to reducing waste and creating a more circular economy. It’s no secret that resale is booming, driven by consumer preferences for sustainability and cost savings. We were drawn to Beni’s unique and data-driven approach to unlock secondhand shopping for every consumer.” Lyndsey Boucherle, Partner of Better Ventures.
“Beni is an accelerant for both the consumer and the merchant shift to the circular economy. Sarah and Celine have worked closely with both parties to understand where the friction currently lies in re-commerce and are laser-focused on building solutions to overcome it,” says Chauncey Hamilton, Partner at XYZ Venture Capital. “Beni continues to be one of the most magical consumer experiences for me. We couldn’t be happier to support Beni further on their mission to change the way we shop.”
Beni continues to develop its technology and partnerships to consistently surface the best secondhand options to shoppers. They’re partnered with over 30 resale sites such as The RealReal, Rent the Runway, Vestiaire Collective, eBay, and Kidizen. With new partnerships launching every month, including a pilot program with Patagonia’s WornWear, Beni is working across the retail industry to usher in a new era of circularity.
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