Minimist Raises $1.1M to Revolutionize Second-Hand Retail with AI

Jan de Vries · 2026-03-25

Let's talk about something that's been bugging me for a while. You know that feeling when you're trying to sell something online? Taking photos, writing descriptions, figuring out a price... it's a total time-suck. Now imagine doing that for thousands of unique second-hand items. That's the massive bottleneck that's keeping 93% of second-hand inventory from ever appearing online. Well, a Vienna-based startup called Minimist just secured $1.1 million in pre-Seed funding to tackle this exact problem. They're building what they call an "invisible backbone" for the global resale market. ### The Funding Round and The Vision The $1.1 million round was led by Tilia Impact Ventures, with backing from InvestEU, plus a bunch of angel investors and family offices. They also got a grant from Vienna's economic agency. This isn't just about business growth—it's about climate goals. Stephan Hofmann, Minimist's CEO, put it perfectly: "Properly re-inventing inventory management for a circular economy is so unbelievably necessary for us all to meet climate goals. We're over the moon to have these resources to unlock more value for our customers worldwide." Think about that for a second. We're drowning in stuff—over 100 billion new garments produced each year—while perfectly good items gather dust because listing them is too darn hard.  ### How Minimist's AI Co-Pilot Works Here's where it gets interesting. Founded just last year in 2024, Minimist has one clear mission: to make buying second-hand feel exactly like buying new. Their secret weapon? An AI-powered "co-pilot for selling" that's shockingly fast. - **Snap a Photo**: Retailers take one picture of a unique item. - **AI Takes Over**: Their engine analyzes the image and generates a complete listing. - **30-Second Magic**: In under half a minute, you've got size, price, condition, description—the whole package. - **Publish Anywhere**: It's formatted for eBay, Shopify, Ricardo, and other major platforms. Andrew Gray from Tilia VC explained why they invested: "Minimist is addressing a real bottleneck. Today, huge amounts of clothing never make it to market because processing and listing is too manual. By removing that friction with AI, they can extend the life of garments and reduce waste." ### The Impact So Far The numbers are already telling a compelling story. Their customers have created 150,000 listings using the Minimist app. Know how much time that saved? About 17,000 hours of manual, tedious work. That's nearly two years of non-stop labor saved. The app doesn't just list items—it also functions as a smart pricing research tool. It helps e-commerce teams price items more accurately, which means better margins and faster sales. ### The Team and Their Reach Minimist operates with a lean, global team of six people spread across six different countries. They're led by Stephan Hofmann (CEO), Robert Andrei Damian (CTO), and Anna Greil (COO). Interestingly, most of their sales come from outside Austria. They've already onboarded 15 online customers, including notable names like UK's Helen & Douglas House and Germany's VinoKilo and Diakonia. This funding follows a smaller $380,000 raise back in January 2025, supported by founders and executives from companies like Eversports and Bitpanda. Here's the bottom line: The global second-hand market is worth hundreds of billions, but it's been stuck in the analog age. Minimist's AI solution could be the key that finally unlocks its full potential, making sustainable shopping easier for everyone while keeping tons of usable items out of landfills. Now that's a future worth building.