VarageSale, the online marketplace for people to buy, sell and connect with their local communities, announced its partnership with Lightspeed and Sequoia, raising $34 million. The financing will be used to further enhance the VarageSale user experience and to continue to expand the company’s user base around the world. Jeremy Liew, venture capitalist at Lightspeed and Bryan Schreier, partner at Sequoia, have also joined VarageSale’s board of directors.
“We have an extremely passionate member base made up of millions of people who use VarageSale every day,” said 
Carl Mercier co-founder and CEO of VarageSale. “Hearing firsthand about the positive impact we’ve made on their lives is incredibly rewarding for our team. From donating clothing and household goods to families in need to reuniting lost pets with owners, VarageSale members are just brimming with community spirit. Now, with our new partners on board, we’re well-positioned to introduce the unique VarageSale experience to more communities across North America.”
Light speed’s Lieu added,
“With millions of members and billions of items viewed per month, VarageSale is disrupting the mobile classified space but it is what happens outside the app and inside the communities that is really unique about their business.”
Local VarageSellers act as administrators to moderate each community and help foster a safe environment for local commerce. These communities are backstopped by VarageSale’s user-friendly mobile app.
“We started VarageSale because like millions of other people, we had grown extremely frustrated at the lack of easy, fun and safe platforms dedicated to buying and selling locally,” said Tami Zuckerman, co-founder and ‘Chief Mom’ at VarageSale. “Now, with this funding from our new partners, we will be able to continue to invest in the happiness of our user communities.”
Schreier commented further,
“VarageSale has created a compelling new category by marrying community and commerce through trust. They’re succeeding where others have failed by recreating on mobile the community feeling of buying and selling with neighbors. The incredible passion and engagement of VarageSale customers is producing a cultural movement unlike any other.”
