French marketplace Back Market, which specializes in the sale of refurbished consumer electronics (particularly smartphones), has opened an office in Barcelona. According to Nathanael Berbessou, general manager of the company in Spain (LinkedIn profile), it is planning to hire 50 employees this year and to increase this figure to 200 within three years.
Founded by Thibaud Hug de Larauze, Quentin Le Brouster and Vianney Vaute in 2004, Back Market has a global workforce of 600 and a presence in 16 countries, with offices in Paris, Bordeaux, Berlin and New York City. In January, it raised €450 million ($510 million U.S.) in a Series E funding round led by London-based Sprints Capital that valued the company at €5 billion. Other shareholders include Eurazeo, Aglaé Ventures, General Atlantic and Generation Investment Management.
Back Market offers a two-year guarantee and prioritizes reducing the failure rate on the devices that it sells during the warranty period (which currently stands at 4%). Back Market does not refurbish devices itself but utilizes third-party companies as sourcing partners.
Speaking to the New Barcelona Post website, Berbessou said that Back Market’s typical Spanish client was “male, under 35 and eager to save money, as well as the planet.” He added that the age profile of Back Market’s customers was older in Spain than in its other markets, something he attributed to “the fact that, in Spain, young people take longer to become financially independent, so it is often their parents who pay for their phone.”