Raising Millions

The growing popularity of the platform ubraniadooddania.pl, thanks to which millions of Poles can get rid of clothes stuck in wardrobes and give it a new life, prompted the founders to further revolutionize the second-hand clothing market in Poland. The company wants to enable fashion brands to enter the second-hand market and argues that it can be profitable. 

The idea of creating a circular second-hand clothing market in Poland, which fits in with global trends, was supported by as many as eight private investors, including leaders in the fashion industry, such as Zofia Dzik — an investor in socially important projects, founder of the Humanites Institute and an independent member of supervisory boards in many companies, including CCC, Tomasz Ciąpała — founder and CEO of the Lancerto clothing brand, as well as Grzegorz Pilch — a long-term member of the management boards of firms such as VRG group that includes brands like the Vistula, Wólczanka.

The group of investors also includes, among others, Bartosz Ciołkowski (MasterCard), Krzysztof Czuba (aion Bank) and Łukasz Chojnowski (United Ideas). The funds raised (PLN 1.5 million) will allow to develop cooperation with brands, increase clothing collections and build the first network of circular second-hand boutiques in Poland.

"The development potential of UDO is defined by global trends in the circular economy and sustainable consumption of clothing and the dynamically growing demand for second hand, amplified by the ideas of zero waste and sustainable fashion, which shot up during the pandemic and the related crisis,” emphasizes Ciąpała. 

According to Statistics Poland (GUS), the second-hand clothing market in Poland is worth nearly PLN 6 billion a year and more than 10 million adult Poles wear clothes bought in "thrift shops.” At the same time, ubraniadooddania.pl already has more active users than before the pandemic. In 2021, Poles have re-circulated through UDO an average of 1.5 tonnes of clothes a day.

CLEAN UP AFTER FAST FASHION

The startup wants to introduce a circular model of operation and enable fashion brands to earn on what they have previously treated as waste. Our own sorting plant will be used for this and the original CLEAR Sorting process, which enables the selection of used clothing according to any category — brand, purpose, or age group. The company also wants to collect returns or complaints from stores and recirculate them after being repaired and refreshed.

“We will not make the fast fashion industry produce less but we will help it see the value of secondhand and clean up after itself. Thanks to us, every clothing brand can profit from the resale of previously produced clothes or shoes and at the same time act more responsibly," notes Zosia Zochniak, owner and co-founder of UDO.