If technology is like new, only better, then this is due to the refurbed DNA. Used mobile phones, laptops and tablets are refurbished and restored to their original condition – this saves the environment a lot of CO2 and consumers a lot of money. The start-up company pays very close attention to the quality of the products – all devices are technically as good as new and also look like new.
On Tuesday, 20.03.2018, the Viennese EIT Climate-KIC Start-Up pitched on Puls 4 at the successful Start-Up show „2 Minuten 2 Millionen“.
Refurbed shows that advertising is not everything during the episode of „2 Minuten 2 Millionen“ on the Austrian channel Puls 4 on Tuesday. In an exciting showdown the start-up, which wants to make the world more sustainable with refurbished products, renounces Media 4 Equity (advertising budget) worth 300.000 Euro from SevenVentures Austria. “Our products are our best advertising. Who once holds a refurbed mobile phone or laptop in his hands, will recommend us to others. That’s why we don’t need any money for television advertising,” says co-founder Peter Windischhofer.
Star investor Michael Altrichter, who invests 500,000 euros in the start-up, shows just how great the potential of the idea is – he rates the start-up at over 3 million euros. The boys from refurbed then also accepted this offer.
Copyright Gerry Frank
Refurbed shows that sustainable shopping pays off. “Our aim is to counter the throwaway society with a new model. Sustainability must also pay off for the consumer. For example, because products are up to 40% cheaper and still offer 100% quality,” says co-founder Kilian Kaminski.
But the most important aspect for Kilian is consumer confidence: “At the end of the day it’s good for the environment if as many people as possible buy refurbed instead of new. That’s why we’ve put together a carefree package: Every appliance comes with a guarantee of at least one year and can be tried and tested completely free of charge for 30 days.”
The success proves the start-up right. “We grow monthly by around 40%. We are often recommended by customers and many have already bought a second or third product. Meanwhile we have already ten employees – and they are getting more and more,” says co-founder Peter Windischhofer.
The fact that refurbed mobile phones or laptops are good for the environment is undisputed. For the production of a laptop the environment is being polluted with 300 kg CO2. The production of 468 T-shirts or 935 bottles of beer, for example, produces the same amount of greenhouse gases. Approximately 70% of these emissions are saved by the refurbed process. With the “Plant a Tree” program, in which a tree is planted in Haiti, Madagascar or Nepal for every product sold, the rest of the emissions are offset.
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Background information:
In the 40 steps of the refurbed process, worn parts are exchanged and data cleaned. The housing, the battery, the camera and even the individual pixels of the touch screen are examined for traces of use and functionality and replaced if necessary.
By the way, the used devices mostly come from companies – often they are leased devices. They are purchased in large quantities and then professionally refurbed. This ensures our high quality standard and a low price at the same time.
Refurbed mainly takes care of platform development, quality assurance and customer support. Dealers are only certified and included in the program after extensive testing. Random samples ensure consistent quality. Should a question or problem arise, the customer is supported by e-mail or a free hotline. Guarantee cases are handled quickly and without complications.
More about refurbed can be found here: https://www.refurbed.de/
Refurbed is part of the EIT Climate-KIC DACH Accelerator Program (MunichRe & Ergo Sidecall): http://www.climate-kic-dach.org/sidecall
Author: Editors