Depop, an online fashion marketplace and community, is to be acquired by e-commerce giant Etsy, Inc. for around €1.33 billion ($1.625 billion). The transaction marks the largest venture-backed acquisition of a private technology company in the UK since 2019.
Depop, founded in 2011 by serial entrepreneur Simon Beckerman and led by CEO Maria Raga, is one of the world’s most successful community-powered marketplace apps, where users buy and sell unique fashion. The site is home to 21 million+ stylists, designers, artists, collectors, vintage sellers and more. Approximately 90% of Depop’s active users are under the age of 26. Depop is amongst the most popular shopping apps in both the UK and the US, and this year was recognised by FastCompany as one of the top five most innovative retail companies in the world.
Following the closing of the transaction, Depop will continue to be headquartered in London, England and operate as a standalone marketplace run by its existing leadership team.
María Raga, CEO of Depop / Manuel Vázquez
Depop’s CEO Maria Raga said of the acquisition: “We’re on an incredible journey building Depop into a place where the next generation comes to explore unique fashion and be part of a community that’s changing the way we shop. Our community is made up of people who are creating a new fashion system by establishing new trends and making new from old. They come to Depop for the clothes, but stay for the culture. We’ll now take an exciting leap forward as part of the Etsy family, benefiting from Josh’s and his team’s expertise, and the resources of a much larger company whose values are so aligned with ours here at Depop.”
US-based giant Etsy, Inc. operates two-sided online marketplaces that connect millions of passionate and creative buyers and sellers around the world. Etsy’s primary marketplace, Etsy.com, is the global destination for unique and creative goods. Buyers come to Etsy to be inspired and delighted by items that are crafted and curated by creative entrepreneurs. For sellers, Etsy offers a range of tools and services that address key business needs. In addition, Etsy, Inc. owns Reverb, a leading global online marketplace dedicated to buying and selling new, used, and vintage musical instruments.
Josh Silverman, Etsy, Inc.’s CEO, commented, “We are simply thrilled to be adding Depop—what we believe to be the resale home for Gen Z consumers—to the Etsy family. Depop is a vibrant, two-sided marketplace with a passionate community, a highly-differentiated offering of unique items, and we believe significant potential to further scale. Depop’s world-class management team and employees have done a fantastic job nurturing this community and driving organic, authentic growth in a way that aligns well with Etsy’s DNA and mission of Keeping Commerce Human. We see significant opportunities for shared expertise and growth synergies across what will now be a tremendous ‘house of brands’ portfolio of individually distinct, and very special, ecommerce brands.”
As a portfolio company of TempoCap, Depop’s acquisition represents an extraordinary achievement for the VC firm too, highlighting several significant milestones for the firm, with an expected cash-on-cash multiple at closing of more than 11x in three and a half years and an expected IRR of approximately 125%.
Adam Shepherd, Investment Partner at TempoCap, said, “Depop’s runaway success is a fantastic story for the European tech sector. It is one of very few technology acquisitions of this magnitude in the last several years in Europe – a testament to the success of Maria Raga, Simon Beckerman and all of the team at Depop. It is also an extremely rare company, as one that has had a major cultural impact too, in changing the narrative of fashion. At TempoCap, we feel proud to have been a part of that exciting journey. We wish Depop great success in this next phase, with a very natural partner in Etsy. Depop’s core pillars of community, entrepreneurship and sustainability are mirrored in Etsy’s values – and we fully expect that Depop will go from strength to strength in its new home.”
