Swappie, an online store for used smartphones, has raised €108m in series C funding.
The Finland-based company which launched in Ireland in 2020, buys, refurbishes, and sells iPhones.
It said the funding will be used to accelerate its growth across Europe, as it focuses on scaling operations in Ireland and the 14 other markets it operates in across the continent.
This latest funding round was led by growth equity firm Verdane, alongside existing investors Lifeline Ventures, Inventure, Reaktor Ventures and TESI.
It brings the company's total funding to over €149 million, following a series B round of €35.8 million in June 2020, which coincided with the company's launch in Ireland and a number of other European markets.
Swappie has almost doubled its market presence since last summer - increasing from eight to 15 countries.
The company said it plans to increase its headcount of 1,200 staff to 2,200 by the end of the year.
It said the overall market for used and refurbished smartphones is forecast to grow at an annual rate of 10.23% between 2022 and 2027.
According to Swappie, sustainability is one of the biggest drivers among its customers for purchasing a refurbished phone.
"It is predicted that smartphones will generate 146 million tons of CO2 emissions in 2022, with 83% of these emissions coming from the manufacture, shipping, and first-year usage of the 1.4 billion new smartphones forecast to be shipped in 2022," the company said in a statement.
It said keeping a mobile phone in use for an extra year would save more than 2 million tonnes of emissions.
"People are increasingly looking for ways to lessen their environmental impact and locking on to the fact that smartphone purchasing is an area we can all address," said Sami Marttinen, Co-founder and CEO of Swappie.
"We truly believe that Swappie can drive consumer awareness and trust in the sector by standardising quality, championing the role of sustainability, and making buying a refurbished smartphone as common as buying a used car," he added.
Janne Holmia, Partner at Verdane, which led this funding round, said the iPhone refurbishment space has grown considerably.
"Verdane is excited to be working alongside Swappie as we deploy our expertise in building sustainable digital consumer businesses to support a vision of a more resource-efficient future for the European consumer," he said.
