Local startup Getmobil received investment in the pre-Series A round to expand the refurbished electronic device market.
Local startup Getmobil, which operates as a marketplace in the refurbished electronic product vertical, announced that it closed its pre-Series A investment round of $4 million and reached a total investment of $6 million. The startup received an investment of ₺27 million at a valuation of ₺180 million in September 2022.
While the investment round was led by DFF (Dutch Founders Fund), one of the largest funds in the Netherlands, known for its investments in early-stage marketplace startups, 212, TechOne VC, Logo Ventures, Maxis and Arya GSYF were also among the investors.
While the investment draws attention with the largest amount coming from the Netherlands to Turkiye on this scale, it also stands out as DFF’s first investment in Turkiye.
Getmobil, which was first founded as a phone repair shop by Mehmet Uygun and Zeynep Uygun in 2018, later turned into a marketplace platform that brings together small and medium-sized businesses that buy and sell second-hand electronic products with Turkish consumers. The company also operates as a Renewal Center within the scope of the Renewed Device Regulation issued by the Ministry of Commerce of the Republic of Turkiye.
Mehmet Uygun, one of the founding partners of the company, said;
“Thanks to the regulation introduced by the Ministry, the market share of refurbished devices has grown rapidly among second-hand devices. However, annual sales of renewed devices are still at very low levels in Turkiye compared to other countries. We think that this sector will progress much faster than the rest of the world with the regulatory support of the ministry and the investments made by the private sector. Our marketplace platform enables the development and institutionalization of the entire sector, with the opportunities it provides in terms of both buying and selling for our second-hand electronics tradesmen, which we know to be around 35 thousand in our country.”
Getmobil collects used devices directly from the end user or through its business partners’ trade-in programs. In addition, thanks to the software infrastructure offered by the company, small business partners can purchase devices by professionally evaluating the devices they will purchase. After the devices go through the renewal process at Getmobil’s ministry-approved renewal facilities, they are put up for sale on getmobil.com and other offline and online platforms.
Sjoerd Nikkelen, representing DFF, one of the main investors of the company, said:
“Circular economy has recently stood out as a strong alternative in terms of both reducing environmental damage and increasing accessibility on the consumer side. As DFF, we have observed that companies operating on a circular economy quickly achieve success if they provide the right technological infrastructure in emerging markets. Turkiye has a great potential in this regard, considering its population and economy, and Getmobil has the right strategies to reveal this potential, thanks to the technological infrastructure it has developed and its structure that highlights small businesses.”
It should not be forgotten that 5 billion electronic devices are thrown away every year. Similar to the behavior in other developed and developing countries, consumers’ environmental awareness is increasing in our country, and accordingly, used devices appear as a strong alternative to new devices.
Finally, let us note that while names such as Nevzat Aydin, Omer Aras and Ahmed Karsli, who were involved in the company’s previous investment process, increased their investments in this round, Mandeep Manocha, the co-founder of India-based Cashify, one of the leading companies in the sector, is among the company’s new partners.
Source: Egirisim / Prepared by Irem Yildiz