OfferUp Emerges from Stealth as the Largest Mobile Marketplace for Local Buyers and Sellers

With $90 million in financing, fivefold growth in 2015, and billions in transactions, OfferUp has created a new category of local commerce

News provided by

OfferUp

Nov 04, 2015, 06:00 ET

SEATTLE, Nov. 4, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- OfferUp, the local marketplace that lets you easily offer up, discover or buy what you want from people nearby, emerges today as the largest mobile marketplace for local buyers and sellers. To date, the company has raised $90 million in total financing and seen billions of dollars in gross merchandise volume (GMV) in 2015 alone.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151103/283589

CEO Nick Huzar and CTO Arean van Veelen founded OfferUp in 2011 after a frustrating attempt to sell family items they no longer needed in order to reclaim some space in their houses. Realizing there was no easy way to buy or sell locally from their mobile phones, they teamed up to make the process as quick and simple as taking a photo on a mobile device.

"We founded OfferUp with a simple vision: to create a better kind of commerce for local buyers and sellers. The fact that we have had such successful market traction, even in stealth, shows that people really want an easy way to buy and sell locally," said Nick Huzar, OfferUp's co-founder.

With $2.9 billion in transactions so far in 2015, OfferUp has grown fivefold since January of this year. Monthly transaction volume continues to grow at a rapid pace as the company maintains its position as a top download in both the iTunes and Google Play lifestyle and shopping categories.

OfferUp closed a $73 million funding round in March 2015. The Series C financing was led by funds and accounts managed by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, Coatue Management, Tiger Global Management, Vy Capital, High Line Venture Partners, and Allen & Company. Previously, Jackson Square Ventures led the OfferUp's Series A financing in 2013 and Andreessen Horowitz led the Series B financing in 2014.

"OfferUp's growth is truly remarkable—it is among the fastest growing marketplaces we have ever seen," said Jeff Jordan, partner at Andreessen Horowitz and early eBay general manager, who has also joined the OfferUp board. "Its mobile-first approach has transformed local commerce and they have quickly established themselves as the clear market leader."

"We recognized the early signs of liquidity in OfferUp and realized they had the potential to disrupt the incumbents and dramatically expand the market for consumer to consumer transactions," Josh Breinlinger, managing director at Jackson Square Ventures said. "Now serving every major market around the U.S., OfferUp is simply the fastest and easiest way to buy or sell locally."

There is a huge market for people to buy and sell goods to each other - for every person looking for a great couch to furnish that new apartment, there is someone with one sitting in the basement, taking up valuable real estate. OfferUp makes it possible to exchange these goods with an easy-to-use mobile app that lets buyers browse photos of offers and sort by category, distance and price. OfferUp has also built a dedicated support team, in-app messaging and a verified identification system all aimed at making OfferUp the most delightful and trusted way to buy and sell locally.

"After personally experiencing the need for a platform like OfferUp, we spent a lot of time carefully building a mobile marketplace that would address these needs in a meaningful way," said OfferUp co-founder Arean van Veelen. "Our visually inspiring interface, strong search capabilities and simplistic buying and selling process were all built with our users' needs in mind."

About OfferUp
OfferUp is the largest mobile marketplace for local buyers and sellers in the country. The company offers free iOS and Android apps that make selling an item as easy as snapping a picture from your mobile device. Based in Bellevue, Wash., OfferUp is backed by Allen & Company; Andreessen Horowitz; Coatue Management; High Line Venture Partners; Jackson Square Ventures; funds and accounts managed by T. Rowe Price; Tiger Global Management; and Vy Capital.

SOURCE OfferUp