Move Loot, a US-based marketplace for second-hand furniture whose backers include conglomerate Alphabet, is set to be an acquired by an unnamed company within the coming weeks, TechCrunch reported yesterday.
Move Loot graduated from accelerator Y Combinator in 2013 and operates a platform that facilitates the sale of high-quality furniture betweenusers and from partner stores. The company handles the collection, storage and delivery of items through local and national delivery partners.
IT research and media company International Data Group participated in a $9m series A round for Move Loot in February 2015 that was led by Metamorphic Ventures and backed by First Round Capital, Index Ventures, Great Oaks and Sherpa Ventures.
First Round and Index previously co-led the company’s $2.8m seed round in 2014, investing alongside GV, the corporate venturing arm of Alphabet then known as Google Ventures, as well as SV Angel and Y Combinator.
Move Loot told TechCrunch it has struggled with expansion efforts across the US and had to significantly reduce its headcount towards the end of 2015.
The company’s services have of late run into some very public difficulties, with angry users unable to reach customer support to resolve issues such as delivery of the wrong item, resulting in them leaving scathing feedback on the company’s Facebook page and on review site Yelp.
Bill Bobbitt, chief executive of Move Loot, told TechCrunch: “Since last fall, we have been evolving the model toward profitability, both to get ahead of the changing financing climate and to improve the scalability of our business.
“We were on track to achieve operational profitability in our California markets, but we were not gaining the market saturation in the Southeast needed to justify the costs of the existing model.
“We are now in full acquisition talks to join forces with another symbiotic company, and we hope to be able to share more news within a few weeks. As part of this, our team is also in the process of reaching out to every person who has contacted customer service to ensure that any issues are resolved.”