Turkey’s consumer electronics market is projected to grow despite the challenge that new devices are more expensive in the country than in any other market in the world. One major factor contributing to the high cost of electronics in the market is the various taxes applied to these products. Another factor is the cost of importing these devices. Apparently, Turkey introduced progressive regulations in 2021 to stimulate a healthy electronics refurbishing market.
Contributing to this trend is Getmobil, a re-commerce marketplace for electronics. It works with the mission to bring circularity in electronics, which not only helps the planet but also saves the consumers’ money.
$4M seed funding
The Turkish platform for electronic devices has secured $4 million in seed funding. The investment round was led by European marketplace investor DFF (Dutch Founder Fund) and featured 212, İşBank affiliates Maxis and Arya, TechOne, and Logo Ventures.
The round also saw participation from existing angel investors, including Nevzat Aydın, the founder of Yemeksepeti, Omer Aras, the chairman of QNB Finansbank and Ahmed Karslı, the founder of Papara.
This Turkish startup’s investment comes close on the heels of the financing raised by London-based startups Raylo also known as ‘Netflix of Electronics’ and Reboxed, which tackles piling e-waste.
Getmobil will use the investment to drive the adoption of refurbished electronics in the country. In addition, Mandeep Manocha, the co-founder of Cashify in India joined as an angel and advisor.
“When applying the right technology, we have seen adoption and trade-in rates step change – especially in emerging markets. Nowhere is the logic for this stronger than in Turkey and we believe Getmobil’s technology-driven merchant-inclusive marketplace will be the platform that unlocks this,” said Sjoerd Nikkelen, venture partner at DFF.
Circularity in electronics
Founded in 2018 by Mehmet Uygun and Zeynep Uygun as a phone repair shop, Getmobil has developed into a quality curated trade-in marketplace. It mpowers Turkish consumers and small merchants to sell devices faster and tap into a much larger source of supply.
Getmobil purchases used devices from consumers directly or through their trade-in partners. Their platform is also used by small merchants to allow them to compliantly buy back devices after inspection of the device. All devices are processed, refurbished, and licensed in one of the Getmobil facilities before being re-marketed through online and offline channels.
Through its re-commerce infrastructure, consumers can not only get access to much more affordable electronics but also save over 5 billion devices that would have otherwise ended up in landfills.
“The supportive regulation introduced by the government has triggered significant growth in the adoption of quality refurbished devices. Yet, trade-in levels in Turkey are still very low when compared to other markets and for many, buying refurbished is a gray market experience with low trust. Our marketplace technology platform, which powers large trade-in programs as well as small merchants (of which there are more than 35.000 in Turkey) lifts the entire industry in a compliant way,” stated Getmobil’s co-founder, Mehmet Uygun.
