OfferUp, a secondhand mobile marketplace, closed its latest funding round $11 million higher than previously reported and added PayPal co-founder Max Levchin as an investor.
The Bellevue, Washington-based startup said it raised $130 million in the funding round, compared with $119 million reported in September. At that time, OfferUp also became the Seattle-area’s sole closely held tech company valued at more than $1 billion. Levchin joins Andreessen Horowitz, T. Rowe Price and others as investors.
“Having an investor that’s had experiences in scaling market places but also monetization, given his background in PayPal, was a really welcome addition,” OfferUp Chief Executive Officer Nick Huzar said in an interview, discussing Levchin. Huzar said the company had been aiming to raise around $100 million during its most recent round. He expects to use the additional capital to help the company expand.
Levchin, in an e-mail, said he has “been long waiting for Craigslist-for-mobile to materialize. It’s a deceptively simple concept, app, and business, yet there is something very hard about improving on local, face-to-face transaction for things that require tire-kicking or spring-bounce-testing, etc.”
Levchin has recently stepped down as a board member from companies including Yelp Inc. and Evernote Corp. to focus attention on his latest startup, Affirm Inc., which offers online shoppers credit for specific purchases.
“I’ve left almost everything,” Levchin said. “I will probably join one or two private boards over the next few years to support the entrepreneur community and continue learning, but my focus is singularly on Affirm these days.”
OfferUp was founded in 2011 by Huzar and Arean van Veelen. The company -- which has yet to turn a profit -- has about 130 employees, and its mobile app has been downloaded more than 33 million times in the U.S., Huzar said.
