Rebag gets 33 million dollar Series E funding

Luxury resale company Rebag has secured 33 million dollars in a Series E funding round, led by private equity firm Novator, with participation from existing investors including General Catalyst. This brings the company’s total funding raised to 101 million dollars.

In the last 12 months, Rebag has maintained its high growth trajectory. The company has experienced a 4x growth of new categories such as fine jewelry and watches since the company’s category expansion in 2020, tripled sourcing due to the launch of Clair AI and Clair Trade and has seen one in five buyers simultaneously trade items to Rebag following the recent Clair Trade launch. Investment funds will be used to further build upon technical tools Rebag has developed including the Clair Technology Suite which is designed to bring transparency to the luxury resale industry. Clair, a powerful, proprietary software, is short for Comprehensive Luxury Appraisal Index for Resale and is equipped with a universal taxonomy and condition grades that act as a standard pricing reference for resellers worldwide.

The Clair Technology Suite includes Clair AI, a tool that can instantly recognize and price bags from the top 50 luxury brands. Users can simply scan a bag using the Rebag app or upload an image to receive the bag’s brand and model, along with an offer that Rebag will pay for it today, and Clair Trade, the first software powered instant trade-in program for the luxury resale industry. With Clair Trade, customers can buy and sell items in one transaction, and only pay for the difference.

Rebag will also use the round to scale its tech-enabled brick-and-mortar business. Over the past year, Rebag has modified its traditional retail model, integrating high-tech touch points throughout the store aimed at providing consumers with a truly immersive retail experience, in a more compact format. At each “Clair Corner,” customers can use a self-service kiosk to receive an instant price quote on the item they are selling via the Clair by Rebag software suite. Last December, the company launched its first “Rebag Bar” inside The Shops at Columbus Circle in New York City, a micro version of its traditional store offering a gateway to the Rebag ecosystem through a personalized digital shopping journey.

Utilizing a localized clienteling approach, Rebag’s new strategy offers convenient drop-off points, instant connection to stylists, both in-store and digitally, and access to a selection of over 30,000 items. Customers can sell a once-loved item within 60 minutes by leveraging Rebag’s unique upfront payment offering, or buy and sell an item in a single, combined transaction via Rebag’s recently launched service: Clair Trade. Recent store openings include locations in Greenwich, Connecticut and Beverly Hills, California, both of which integrate Rebag’s physical signature store environment with a seamless and on-the-go experience, with more planned for 2022.

“Since the company’s inception, our vision has been to fuel the circular economy and create further transparency in the resale market,” said Charles Gorra, founder and CEO of Rebag, in a statement. “This latest round of funding will allow us to further develop our technology and launch features that democratize access to information and create an ecosystem that benefits consumers and retailers alike.”

“We have been impressed by the quality and consistency of the execution from the Rebag team,” said Birgir Ragnarsson, managing partner of Novator, in a statement. “We believe that the luxury resale space is still in its early innings. Rebag has carved out a unique approach that will facilitate its massive scaling”.

The announcement follows the release of the company’s 2021 Clair Report, a consumer resource covering seismic shifts within the luxury resale market pertaining to retained brand value, pricing trends, and significant changes in overall brand ranking. The annual report revolutionized the resale industry by providing transparency in an unprecedented way, empowering consumers to make informed decisions and investments. Rothschild & Co. worked in collaboration with Rebag on this round.