Vilnius-based startup Tingit, a zero-effort repairs market, has secured a pre-seed funding of €500k, led by Firstpick, a Lithuanian VC fund, and accelerator for tech startups within the Baltics, with participation from BADideas.fund (Latvia), PurposeTech (Czech Republic), and Heartfelt Capital (Germany).
With the recent funding, Tingit plans to launch the Service Supplier Gateway which is able to allow any restore specialist to independently supply their providers via the platform. An upcoming API will enable any model, e-commerce website and market to plug Tingit’s repairs community into their web sites and seamlessly combine a restore service into their operations. After a profitable begin in Lithuania, the startup plans to broaden to different international locations in addition to introduce further industries resembling sports activities items, toys, and shopper electronics.
By connecting shoppers with restore specialists, the app presents a seamless restore expertise with service reserving, cost and delivery totally built-in into the platform.
“We personal numerous issues and every little thing breaks sooner or later. Our possessions want and will be maintained to stay in use. We need to make repairs so easy it turns into a behavior, identical to brushing your tooth,” commented Indrė Viltrakytė, Co-Founder and CEO of Tingit.
Simplify the method
Tingit has already accomplished over 600 orders and dealt with over 2,500 restore requests, many from returning purchasers. What units Tingit other than different restore platforms is the simplified course of.
“Customers add a fast video and we offer a quote for the absolute best restore providers tailor-made to that particular merchandise. This manner, we take away the effort of choosing a service upfront, as many individuals aren’t certain what’s even doable on the subject of repairs,” mentioned Tadas Maslauskas, Co-founder and CTO at Tingit. Earlier than becoming a member of Tingit, Tadas was main engineering groups at Kilo Well being, the second fastest-growing firm in Europe.
The VC traders acknowledge the worth of tech-driven companies that reach the lifespan of products and assist customers get monetary savings. Lithuania’s first unicorn, Vinted, is a web-based market for secondhand garments and has grow to be the highest C2C second-hand style market in Europe. In 2023, it had 105 million registered customers worldwide and reached virtually €600 million in income, proving the demand for sustainable consumerism.
Jonė Vaitulevičiūtė, Managing Accomplice at Firstpick, added: “There may be nonetheless a void of data on the subject of leveraging expertise to reinforce sustainability. That’s the reason we’re tremendous excited to see how Tingit will educate shoppers and assist them create sustainable habits.”
Driving the restore financial system wave
Viltrakytė co-founded Tingit along with three different companions in 2023 after 15 years within the style trade, the place she noticed overproduction and overconsumption firsthand. Globally, 92 million tons of textile waste are produced yearly, with gadgets typically worn solely seven to 10 occasions earlier than being discarded. Conserving these garments out of landfills is a significant enterprise alternative: round enterprise fashions are projected to achieve a market of $700 billion by 2030 and seize 23% of the worldwide style market.
“We’re getting into the restore financial system. Manufacturers like Zara and Uniqlo have just lately launched after-sales repairs,” said Viltrakytė. “There are over 300,000 clothes retail companies in Europe that can ultimately be part of this transfer in direction of extra sustainable consumption. With Tingit, we’re dedicated to being on the forefront of this societal shift.”
In the long run, the CEO envisions Tingit as a worldwide sustainability market the place manufacturers, restore specialists, and shoppers come collectively for frictionless repairs.