While making the furniture supply chain more ethical and sustainable, the innovative marketplace dedicated to high-quality second-hand design objects has just closed its second investment round

Deesup, the first marketplace to purchase and sale iconic and second-hand design furniture, has closed a new € 1.4M investment round, signed by Alicrowd Fund, LVenture Group, the Club degli Investitori, Doorway and LifeGate, among the others.

“We are proud to have on board such great investors who share our vision – explains Valentina Cerolini, CEO and Co-founder of Deesup – Once again, we have received the market’s trust for a project that embraces high-end design, sustainability, technology and a unique community of design lovers “.

Together with AZ ELTIF – ALIcrowd – established by Azimut Investments SA and managed by Azimut Libera Impresa SGR SpA in partnership with Mamacrowd, the most important Italian investments platform for equity crowdfunding – the first venture capital ELTIF that uses crowdfunding to search for companies to invest in, LVenture Group is among the main lenders.

LVenture Group already signed the closure of the first round of investment of 300 thousand euros in September 2019, along with some business angels, after launching Deesup in 2018 through its LUISS EnLabs Acceleration Program.

Luigi Mastromonaco, Head of Investments & Portfolio Growth of LVenture Group explains: “Deesup has kept growing globally over the years, bringing high-end Italian design abroad, from where an ever-increasing percentage comes of the volumes generated by the startup. Their business model reflects our ESG oriented vision since it is based on the circular economy, which promotes the second life of design objects. This new round and the rapidly growing second-hand market trend will further accelerate the expansion of the startup internationally, also thanks to a very skilled team.”.

Il Club degli Investitori participated in the capital increase – carrying out the transaction through Simon Fiduciaria of the Ersel Group and the Doorway portal – together with the angel business groups Angels for Women and Angels for Impact, led by Antonella Grassigli, CEO of Doorway, as well as the Italian Business Angel of the Year for 2021.

“We have chosen to support Deesup” – declares Antonella Grassigli, CEO of Doorway – “as it represents an innovative example of circular economy that fits perfectly with our objectives as a Benefit Company and our investment selection model that favours companies compliant with ESG criteria to create value for the whole society as well as for investors “.

Representing the Club degli Investitori, Angels for Women and Angels for Impact, the Champion Paolo Giolito explains: “Deesup’s metrics have proven to attract and satisfy an ever-increasing number of users on the platform looking for an iconic object, which is often difficult to find, with a full-stack service and great attention to the environment “.

Investors also included LifeGate Way, the subsidiary of the LifeGate Group, which chose to invest in Deesup as a scalable example of a circular, innovative and “sustainable native” economy model.

Deesup continues to experience significant growth. To date, the startup has over 100 partners among the main players in the furniture market and in 2021 it doubled its sales results compared to the previous year, with an average shopping cart of over € 900.

This € 1.4M round, € 300,000 in debt financing, will allow Deesup to support its international growth, which started in 2019 after the closure of the first round. With these new funds, the startup will consolidate its presence in Italy, Germany, France and Benelux and other main countries where it already operates, to then expand and scale into new markets. The technological development of the platform is also at stake, in order to optimize the buying and selling experience, but also to attract new Retail partners and bring them closer to the Resale model.