Foresight Venture Partners has invested £2.1 million (with existing investors adding £150,000 to this pre-IPO round of £2.25 million) into Auctioning4u, a leading chain of eBay drop-off shops in the UK. In addition to serving consumers directly, Auctioning4u also sells goods on behalf of charities and companies.
David Hughes, partner at Foresight, said, "Auctioning4u is the first business in the UK to develop a professional outsourcing service that aids sellers on eBay or Amazon. The company has an outstanding management team and is emulating a business model that is very successful in the US, but which has only fragmented competition here. The UK market for returned, unwanted goods and collectibles is estimated at £31 billion. We expect the business to be ready for IPO early in 2007."
Auctioning4u recently acquired Auctionicity and AuctionPartner.
