French resale specialist Paradigme raises €1.2 million

French fashion resale start-up Paradigme has carried out a first funding round with a number of investors, raising €1.2 million. Paradigme was founded two years ago by the brothers Fabien and Vincent Huché-Deniset. It has developed its own resale platform and offers B2B solutions to fashion brands.

Among the investors and business angels involved in the funding round, event sales group Showroomprivé, which recently announced a partnership with Paradigme, the Hartwood investment fund, Vanessa Proust, Neo Founders, Fabrice Lépine, Frédéric Maus (of WSN), Edouard Nattée, Grégoire Baudry and Marine de Waziers.

Paradigme started out as an independent business, and is currently working with some 15 partners, including BHV Marais, La Fée Maraboutée, Inès de la Fressange Paris and Petite Mendigote.

Following the funding round, Paradigme is aiming to “build a team that will convince more fashion brands and leading labels to develop a second-hand range in partnership [with Paradigme], while also upgrading its technology solutions, growing its community of buyers and sellers of second-hand items, and expanding the organisation with the goal of multiplying by 10 the volumes handled by the end of this year.”

Paradigme gives consumers the opportunity of selling their pre-owned clothes in exchange of gift vouchers. The items are checked and reconditioned, if necessary, then put up for sale on Paradigme, which claims to have 20,000 customers. The start-up is chiefly working with premium labels. Paradigme currently has a team of six people, and its offices are located in Paris, within the HEC business school incubator at the Station F start-up campus.

Start-ups and companies specialised in managing the resale business for fashion labels (both in-store and online) are in constant flux in France. Rediv, one of the pioneers, went into liquidation in January, while rental solution specialist Lizee recently acquired Freepry, a start-up that handles second-hand sales and inventory in stores.