Sending a bouquet of flowers to surprise someone is a lovely idea. But, is it actually sustainable or should you feel guilty about adding to your carbon footprint?
Vinted, Europe’s largest online C2C marketplace dedicated to second-hand fashion, announced today that it is donating over €1 million to support the fight against COVID-19. This donation is the largest for the company to date, and will primarily help to fund key research projects for antiviral treatment that will have a global impact. Vinted’s mission is to make second-hand fashion the first choice worldwide. Founded in 2008 in Vilnius, Lithuania, the company is now active in 12 countries and in Germany known as Kleiderkreisel. Since 2015, Vinted is a portfolio company of BurdaPrincipal Investments, the growth capital arm of Hubert Burda Media.
“We are proud of Vinted’s response to the current situation and fully support the company’s decision to make the donation to fight COVID-19. Community has always been at Vinted’s core and it has rarely been more important to stick together and help one another.”
Martin Weiss, board member of Hubert Burda Media and board member at Vinted
“Success in any country can pave the way for the rest of the world. We have been working hard to provide solutions for our community to keep trading safely, in times of social distancing and while some of our members are facing unexpected economic challenges. But across the world, nations are working to find a solution to COVID-19, and we wanted Vinted to join this global effort in a way that would benefit the whole society. This total amount is significant for us, but we as well as our investors truly believe this is a time we all need to support each other as much as we can."
Thomas Plantenga, CEO of Vinted
The donation focuses on funding global COVID-19 research
With these initiatives, Vinted has the desire to further support front liners whose scientific and medical activities are essential in shaping the short- and long-term response to the virus. The majority of the donation is intended to help fund various research projects run by several institutes (e.g. Pasteur Institute de Lille), primarily located in France, to better understand COVID-19 and develop global antiviral treatments.
The company's perspectives
Vinted members stayed active across countries during the past three months with an increase of +17% in listings noticeable since the end of February. With the safety of its people in mind, setting up home office structures in early March, Vinted proved that it’s possible to keep working motivated to create new solutions and outstanding user experiences throughout these challenging times for its engaged community of 7.5 million members in Germany. The company and its investors are confident that Vinted will keep growing – the accelerating development already required the support of 40 new employees and further hires being planned. Vinted will help answering the increasing need for online trade and more responsible consumption in a changing environment.
For more information, please visit Vinted’s website.
