Weply is a marketplace, it is an online shop window, it is a tool to connect sellers and buyers, it is also a platform to facilitate the development of an online presence by shops that do not have one. Weply is the place to buy sports products: skiing, cycling, trekking, used and verified products, new products, products on offer.
Weply is founded by Davide Guerrieri who is also the CEO and Samuele D’Addesio who the COO: “We started in 2023 and already last year we recorded interesting numbers with a gross merchandise value, i.e. transacted, of about 15 thousand euros in just three months,” Guerrieri tells Startupbusiness. “We started with a family and friend round of 75 thousand euros and built a platform that is articulated on an app and website which also allows users to make specific requests: tell me what you’re looking for and I’ll find it for you, and for shops to join our network to have an online presence and to be able to offer customers try-and-buy and rental services’.
Weply has a specific approach, especially designed for the new generation of consumers who are more used to buying online and buying second-hand products, an approach that brands often do not have and thus find themselves interfacing ineffectively with younger, discerning and evolved consumers. “This is an issue that many brands or stores do not handle effectively,” says the CEO. “Some have figured it out and are doing it, others are still somewhat stuck in traditional sales models that lack the ability to reach those who are in fact the new consumers, and we are focused on just that, on our customers whether they are the consumer or the store that is part of our network.
This model, which is reminiscent of the click-and-brick approach but also of the provision of services with the Saas approach, translates for the start-up into the ability to differentiate revenue channels: the subscription that shops pay for having an online shop window, the fess on the transaction that typically pays those who buy when they buy from another private individual, and all the additional services starting, for example, with verified products: ‘we have found that adding the certification of a product verified by us is an element that facilitates sales, and is a service that falls within what we consider to be additional services that bring further business development’.
The start-up, which has around 40,000 registered users, 12,000 followers on its Instagram page and 4,000 published ads, is now aiming to raise €400,000 with a SAFE: ‘our goal now is to have funds to improve the product and accelerate the process of market expansion, at this stage we do not need to hire new people because we already have an established staff of seven people who have been involved in the project from the beginning (pictured, ed), the idea is to complete this SAFE pre-seed and then do a more important seed round to also support the internationalisation process in which we believe very much in both the water sports where we see Spain and Portugal as key markets, and winter sports where we see strong growth rates throughout Eastern Europe. Il SAFE ci serve anche per portare a bordo investitori capaci di dare supporto anche non finanziario allo sviluppo della startup, advisor che possono aiutarci a sviluppare ulteriormente il processo di crescita”.
Weply’s plan is therefore to expand both its services, its network of partnerships with shops, and its markets, but also its areas of action. Today, ski and bike equipment accounts for the bulk of the listings, along with climbing, trekking and camping, but surfing, kiting, sailing and diving are growing strongly.
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