Rebag secures $33 million in Series E funding to fuel tech developments

By

Robin Driver

Published
Dec 15, 2021

Rebag, the​New York-based luxury resale platform specialized in handbags, announced on Wednesday that it has raised $33 million in a Series E funding round, bringing the company’s total funding up to $101 million as it plans further expansions to its tech toolkit.

 
The funding round was led by private equity firm Novator, with a group of existing Rebag investors, including General Catalyst, also participating.
 
Rebag said that the new funding will be used to build on its technical tools, including the Clair Technology Suite, which uses the company’s proprietary Clair software, designed to improve transparency in luxury resale through the use of a universal taxonomy and condition grades to establish a standard pricing reference.

The Suite notably features Clair AI, which can recognize and price bags from the top 50 luxury brands, and Clair Trade, a software-powered instant trade-in program allowing Rebag users to buy and sell items in a single transaction while only paying for the difference.
 
In addition, Rebag revealed that it will also use the funds to scale its tech-enabled brick-and-mortar business, which has seen the company transform its traditional retail locations with high-tech touchpoints over the course of the last year. Dubbed “Clair Corners,” these spaces use Clair software to allow Rebag’s in-store customers to instantly receive a price quote for the item they want to sell.
 
The platform has also been exploring the potential of tech-integrated physical retail in other formats, having launched its first “Rebag Bar,” a tech-enabled, micro-version of its stores, at NYC’s The Shops at Columbus Circle last December.
 
“Since the company's inception, our vision has been to fuel the circular economy and create further transparency in the resale market,” said Rebag founder and CEO Charles Gorra in a release. “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.”
 
Rebag has made strong progress over the last 12 months, with new categories, such as fine jewelry and watches, having seen 4x growth since launching in 2020. The launches of Clair AI and Clair Trade earlier this year have also allowed the platform to triple its sourcing.
 
The company recently opened new store locations in Greenwich, Connecticut and Beverly Hills, California, and has further openings planned for 2022.
 
Founded in 2014, Rebag is one of several digital-first platforms currently reshaping the resale landscape. Alongside competitors ThredUp, Poshmark and The RealReal, the company has helped drive a boom in the sector, with a recent study from ThredUp predicting that the U.S. apparel resale market alone could be worth $77 billion by 2026.