Poshmark Buys Sneaker Verification Firm Suede One
Poshmark Inc. is buying its way into a little more sneaker savvy.
The secondhand platform said it acquired Suede One, which uses machine learning, computer vision and human experts to virtually authenticate sneakers. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
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Suede One was founded last year and, according to its own internal testing, can use technology to authenticate popular sneakers like Jordan 1s and Yeezy 350s with a better than 99 percent accuracy. Other sneakers are reviewed by specialists using a proprietary tool.
The start-up once authenticated a pair of Nike Air Yeezy 1 Prototypes that sold for $1.8 million at auction. Its team will join Poshmark starting today.
“We built this company to solve a key challenge for the reseller community — creating technology that protects them from fraud and ensures fast, accurate authentication that they can rely on,” said Matt Forloine, chief executive officer of Suede One. “Poshmark and Suede One share the same values of trust and focus on community, and by joining forces we’ll be able to advance our technology and scale these services to more products and categories and benefit as many people as possible.”
This is Poshmark’s first acquisition and a signal not just of the importance of sneakers in the secondhand world, but how the platform is looking to develop.
Manish Chandra, Poshmark’s founder and CEO, said: “We are laser focused on making strategic investments that fuel the continued growth of our business, give the best overall experience for buyers and make our marketplace the number one, most trusted destination for sellers. Suede One has built impressive capabilities in virtual authentication that will allow us to deliver tangible benefits to our community, scale our authentication services in a meaningful way, and accelerate our momentum in sneakers as well as luxury goods, two of the fastest-growing categories in the resale space.”
Suede One will complement the firm’s refund guarantee Posh Protect and its Posh Authentic service, which uses a team of specialists to verify orders of more than $500.
Investors liked the direction Poshmark was taking and sent shares of the firm up 3.3 percent to $23.87 in early trading amid a down market Wednesday morning.
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