Bought, a Finnish startup focused on making secondhand fashion sales easier, has raised $1.5 million in pre-seed funding, one of the largest rounds for a Finnish startup led by a team under 30. The funding comes from Lifeline Ventures, Wave Ventures, and key backers including Marianne Vikkula (Wolt COO & Marimekko board member), Sami Marttinen (Swappie founder & CEO), Mikko Silventola, Pii K., and sustainability-focused angels Annika Sjöberg & Anniina Sulku. The app uses AI to automatically generate sales listings from users’ shopping history, eliminating the typical hassle of photographing and describing items. In addition to this technology, Bought has acquired Zadaa, a Nordic secondhand fashion marketplace, which will integrate its community of 500,000 users into the new platform. The funds will help expand Bought’s user base and refine its AI tools.
The app, which uses AI to automatically generate sales listings from users’ online shopping history, seeks to tackle the challenges many face when trying to sell secondhand items. Bought’s technology simplifies the entire process, allowing users to create listings with just their email addresses, eliminating the need for photographing and manually describing each item.
“For the past five years, I have almost exclusively bought secondhand. Yet, no matter the platform, selling has always felt overwhelmingly difficult for me. Eventually, I thought—this can’t just be me. There must be a better way. That frustration led to Bought,” says Erik Kymäläinen, CEO and co-founder of Bought.
Along with the funding, Bought has also acquired Zadaa, a Nordic secondhand fashion marketplace, known for introducing secondhand shopping to over 500,000 users in Finland, Denmark, and Germany. The acquisition will see Zadaa’s users seamlessly transition to the Bought platform, further expanding its community.
“Zadaa has had a fantastic journey. A decade ago, it was the first Nordic marketplace app for used fashion, introducing half a million Finns to secondhand and redefining peer-to-peer commerce,” says Kymäläinen.
Zadaa secured a total of $11 million in funding during its operation, which helped fuel its growth as one of the first secondhand fashion marketplaces in the Nordics. This investment allowed the company to expand its platform across Finland, Denmark, and Germany, attracting a user base of 500,000 people. Despite its initial success, Zadaa faced challenges in scaling and competing in a growing market. In 2025, the company was acquired by Bought, a Finnish startup focused on simplifying the resale process, enabling Zadaa’s community to transition into Bought’s AI-powered platform.
“We quickly saw that Bought’s innovation and energy were exactly what Zadaa and its 500,000-user community needed. That’s how the idea of continuing Zadaa’s story within Bought came to life,” Kymäläinen adds.
Bought will use the funding to improve its AI technology, attract more users, and advance its goal of making secondhand shopping more accessible. As part of the acquisition, Zadaa has been incorporated into the Bought app, allowing Zadaa users to quickly and easily move their existing listings and profiles to the new platform.
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Read the orginal article: https://arcticstartup.com/bought-raises-1-5m-pre-seed/
