Move Loot Used Furniture Market Raises $2.8 Million

SAN FRANCISCO, CA-- Move Loot, the easiest way to buy and sell used furniture online, announced today that it has closed a $2.8M seed round of funding co-led by First Round Capital and Index Ventures. Other participants include Google Ventures, SV Angel and Y Combinator (Move Loot was in the Winter '14 batch).

Bill Bobbitt, Co-founder and CEO of Move Loot, says the company plans to use the funds primarily for geographic expansion and supply chain enhancements to improve the customer experience. Currently operating in San Francisco, Move Loot plans to expand to at least two additional cities before the end of the year.

"We're incredibly happy with how much progress we've made in San Francisco -- there is no shortage of people looking for an easy and affordable furniture solution," said Bobbitt. "In fact, we recently moved to a new warehouse that's six times the size of our original unit because we were so capacity constrained."

Move Loot is fundamentally changing the way people furnish homes and offices by providing a technology platform and warehousing solution that makes it more convenient and less expensive to buy used over new. The founders were motivated to start the business based on their own painful experiences moving across the country and their interest in reducing the amount of used furniture that goes into landfills each year -- 10.8 million tons. "We knew that we could use technology to create these great local marketplaces and enable people to sell and buy perfectly good used furniture that deserves another chance," said Bobbitt. "Quality furniture holds its value surprisingly well, and we're hoping to play a part in changing consumer behavior away from the current trend of buying cheap, disposable pieces."

Sellers need only photograph their furniture, upload the photos to Move Loot and schedule a free pickup. Move Loot collects the furniture, cleans it if necessary, photographs it professionally, and posts it online for sale. Buyers choose what they want, pay online and schedule next-day delivery to their doorstep via Move Loot movers. Following the traditional consignment model, sellers get a portion of the selling price, but Move Loot handles all of the hassle. In keeping with Move Loot's environmental values, items that don't sell are eventually donated to local charities.

Josh Kopelman, Partner at First Round Capital, said his firm invested in Move Loot because they'd solved the sell side of this market in a way that's innovative and comprehensive. "Most marketplaces have to manage both supply and demand -- and a lot of effort goes into keeping them in balance. Move Loot's model addresses both beautifully, and solves a massive pain point for a huge audience," said Kopelman.

"We're excited to back Move Loot as it is at the intersection of two major trends we're seeing. First, it is a local marketplace that creates a seamless and delightful experience for both buyers and sellers. And second, it's a great example of the village economy -- the confluence of urbanization, digital efficiency and gen y values around sharing and reusing," said Terrence Rohan of Index Ventures. "More importantly, we've been very impressed by this team of scrappy mission-driven builders."

Move Loot is currently working on creating an expansion playbook encapsulating repeatable processes for geographic expansion. "We've learned a lot during our eight months of operation," said Bobbitt, "and there is still so much to learn that will only be catalyzed by comparing findings between cities." The company will also continue to invest in technology, such as inventory management and scheduling optimization that will help it improve supply chain efficiencies and deliver a great experience for customers.

About Move Loot

Move Loot is the easiest way to buy and sell used furniture online. Unlike peer-to-peer services or classified ads, Move Loot takes the burden off sellers by picking up their furniture and selling it on their behalf. Buyers can find great quality furniture online at steeply discounted prices and have it delivered the next day. Move Loot was created to help reduce the 10.8 million tons of used furniture that goes into landfills each year in the U.S. To learn more about Move Loot, visit www.moveloot.com, or follow the company on Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter.

Move Loot is a trademark of Move Loot Inc. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

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