Online charity shopping site gearing up for funding boost of €3m to €5m

ONLINE charity shopping site Thriftify, which acts as an online retailer for 98 per cent of the country’s charity shops, is gearing up for a series of a funding round of between €3m and €5m later in the year, reports Maurce Garvey.

The move follows a huge financial boost the start-up received in late 2022, having signed a €1.6m investment deal, led by the very first HBAN Impact Syndicate, an Irish network of angel investors, who led the first fundraising round with a €1.1m investment.

Co-founded in 2018 by Clondalkin man Rónán Ó Dálaigh, Thriftify first launched in Ballyfermot and has grown approximately 300 per cent each year, also investing in continued expansion across Britain.

The company recently expanding its workforce with 20 new jobs planned across the tech, e-commerce and sales and marketing sides of the business.

Ó Dálaigh relocated to London to focus on expansion in the UK market, and it has been growing steadily since.

“We spent the first few years building the tech and now it’s time to build the brand,” said Ó Dálaigh.

“The British market is so much bigger than Ireland so if we wanted to be successful we had to be based here.”

The entrepreneur said any future investment would go towards expanding into new markets.

The company is increasing staff numbers to 50, and employs people in Ireland, the UK, Spain, Moldova and India.

Last year, Thriftify rebranded, which included an all-round overhaul of their e-commerce site, new website, visuals and user experience, to allow visitors experience a modern, easy way to shop for second hand finds.

The company’s ongoing growth, meant it aimed to generate approximately €3m euro for charities selling on the site in 2022.