Bulgarian startup NOLD raises €1M to impact fashion resale in CEE

Bulgarian-founded tech startup NOLD has raised €1 million in a recent seed round, the Recursive reports. Tilia Impact Ventures led the round, joined by Depo Ventures, Czech Founders, Sofia Angel Ventures, New Vision 3, and four angel investors.

• NOLD is a female-led tech startup offering a new perspective on a circular fashion, aiming to divert fashion industry from overproduction towards sustainability. In particular, the company offers a peer-to-peer resale platform for the luxury industry market, with a primary focus on the UK.
• The company does not change the existing model on the market, however, it takes the concept further. NOLD prizes itself on the user engagement, brand partnerships, and industry endorsement. If the brands want to cooperate with the platform, they can provide their product database and choose to either capture 10% of the resale value in net profit or 90% in revenue.
• The founders Boryana Uzunova and Ana Kremenlieva stated the goal for the next year includes entering the UK pre-loved market and revolutionizing it.

Who are the investors

• Tilia Impact Ventures is the lead investor in the platform. It is a Czech impact fund that supports purpose-driven founders and companies with scalable business models and high environmental or societal impact.

Recently, Tilia launched the €32 million second fund to support CEE companies with an Environmental, Social, and Governance focus.

• Depo Ventures is a Prague-based investment group, managing angel funds and an international network of angel investors with 35 portfolio companies and €100 million investment participation.
• Czech Founders is a community-driven VC firm investing into exceptional CEE founders with global ambitions. The firm typically invest as the first external investors and is backed by over 40 top European founders.
• Sofia Angels Ventures is a €13 million early-stage VC fund backed up by the European Investment Fund to co-invest alongside angels, family offices, and other private investors and funds.
• New Vision 3 is a Sofia-based VC fund investing in early stage tech-enabled companies working at the forefront of innovation.
• NOLD was also supported by an advisory board, comprising Justine Liu, Maÿlis Buonomo, Dax Lovegrove, Alexis Cepeda Maule, and Léon Evers.