The Lithuanian unicorn Vinted has a very big ambition to make second-hand the first choice. In the last 13 years, the company has achieved a great deal and the start-up is the biggest player in many countries, but so much more awaits.
The Lithuanian unicorn Vinted has a very big ambition to make second-hand the first choice. In the last 13 years, the company has achieved a great deal and the start-up is the biggest player in many countries, but so much more awaits.
In 2008, Milda Mitkute was moving from Kaunas to Vilnius and realised she had too many clothes to take with her. Justas Janauskas offered to help and built a website to give away her clothes to friends. Now, not only their friends are using the Vinted platform, but so too are 38 million people around the world. Milda Mitkute tells BBQ readers more about working for the start-up, the concept of second-hand as a greener choice in fashion consumption, and her own dilemma of choosing between ethical, lower-quality clothes and long-lasting leather boots.
It is hard to imagine another big Baltic start-up that is so deeply rooted in Germany as Vinted. How did that happen?
Actually, by accident. Me and another co-founder Justas Janauskas were huge fans of CouchSurfing. Once, two German women, Sophie and Suzanne, came to his apartment to stay for a longer period, like one or two weeks. One night at 2 a.m. they came home after a party and Justas was coding. They asked what he was doing. He explained and they said: we need to have that in Germany! We didn’t have the money for that but they didn’t care because they believed it was an absolute must for Germany. So they volunteered to help. This was how we agreed.
How successful is Vinted now in Germany?
I believe we are really successful in Germany. It's growing, and the community is getting bigger and more involved there. 8 million people have already joined. Germany is the second biggest market for us after France.
What would be your advice to other start-ups who are thinking about Germany? How should they prepare for this market?
There are a few things. One is common for any country. The second might be more specific for Germany.
Speaking about the first, I think it's always worth checking if your idea looks attractive to other people – maybe others don't share the same views as you and it will not get enough support. In business terms, make sure you see a product-market match.
Secondly, we found that Germany was a role model for how to do business. It seems Germany is always ahead in terms of how to deal with privacy issues and legal matters. There are many things to learn. The country has very high standards and it encourages you to do your best.
How did the Covid-19 pandemic impact Vinted’s business and daily operations?
I think the majority of online businesses haven't suffered from the lockdown as much as the offline ones. People still want to look good and many of them have a guilty pleasure about buying something for themselves. If physical shops are closed, people will go online. So for us, it was an obvious benefit.
However, at the very beginning we were also affected because nobody understood what was happening. It took us a couple of weeks to work out what was actually going on, especially last March. The beginning was so sudden and strange. There were no predictions on when life would be back to normal, but all in all online business is not suffering as much as bricks-and-mortar businesses.
Extract from the interview by Anda Asere, exclusively for Baltic Business Quarterly Summer 2021
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