London-based Haz, an AI social commerce app that connects friends through the things they own, has closed $1.4 million in oversubscribed pre-seed funding led by Speedinvest (recently backed Tulyp and cylib) with participation from the scout programmes of a16z (co-founder Reface, Dima Shvets), Atomico (Sameer Singh), Concept Ventures (Oliver Kicks), and notable individuals from Lapse, Lendable, Lottie & Ecoigo.
The funding will be used to develop Haz’s proprietary AI technology and launch the platform in the UK before expanding across Europe.
What challenge does it tackle?
The global second-hand apparel market is set to soar to $350 billion by 2028, growing three times faster than the overall global apparel market. The global refurbished electronics market is also expected to be valued at $272.91 billion by 2031, growing by over 12% year-on-year.
Haz wants to capitalise on the rapidly growing demand in resale by using its AI technology to scan digital receipts in users’ email inboxes. This completely removes the manual element of listing something you own for sale, creating a seamless resale experience.
First-of-its-kind social commerce app
Founded by Ronan Harvey-Kelly and Glenn Keller, Haz is a social second-hand app, which lets you see what your friends own and notifies you whenever they buy or sell across the web.
It automatically turns your digital shopping receipts into items on the app, removing the manual element of listing something you own for sale, creating a seamless resale experience. By using AI to automatically digitise the things users own from the point of purchase, the company makes it possible for people to receive offers on items they haven’t actively listed for sale.
Launched in late March of 2024, and available to download for free on iOS, Haz currently has thousands of users, and the liquidity of supply on the app has increased by 1,163% in the last 3 months alone.
“By utilising AI to automatically digitise the things users own from the point of purchase, we’re making it possible for people to receive offers on items they haven’t actively listed for sale,” said co-founder Glenn Keller.
“It is clear that the future of commerce is resale. While we have seen huge advancements in how people shop new, the second-hand industry has lacked AI innovation over the last five years,” added investor Katharine Spooner at Speedinvest. “Your friends follow your location, like your photos, and see what you’re listening to in real-time. Now Haz lets them track and engage with what you own – and this new type of connection is what excites us most about Haz.”
“Haz presents a promising approach using proprietary AI to balance the world’s overproduction of apparel and electronics,” said investor Dima Shvets co-founder of Reface and A16Z scout programme partner. “Haz stands out for many reasons, most notably their progress in automating the process of turning unwanted belongings into money. I truly believe in their mission, technology, and approach.”
