By Jorge Mercado Friday, December 16th, 2022

Santa Barbara-based Beni closed its first seed round Dec. 13, announcing a $4 million financing round led by Buoyant Ventures.

Beni, a free-to-use browser extension meant to amplify secondhand shopping efforts, with the money will continue to develop its technology and partnerships over the next year.

According to a press release, Beni has partnered with over 30 resale sites such as The RealReal, Rent the Runway, Vestiaire Collective, eBay, and Kidizen. 

Beni has announced new partnerships every month, including a pilot program with Patagonia’s WornWear, in order to usher in the new era of the circular economy.

The model of the circular economy relies on actually reusing the material that is being recycled, rather than producing new material of the same kind.

Beni helps push this forward for users as when they find something they want, the browser extension suggests a similar listing from leading retail sites.

“We started Beni to make resale more accessible,” Sarah Pinner, co-founder and CEO of Beni, said in a press release. 

“Beni saves shoppers hours of scrolling and helps resale sites get the right inventory to the right shoppers. With this financial backing, we will grow our team and scale Beni to accelerate the adoption of resale.”

A woman-owned company, Beni has been funded primarily by other women in both its pre-seed and seed round. The company has now raised $5 million in total.

Buoyant Ventures is joined in the seed round by Better Ventures and pre-seed investors XYZ Venture Capital, Chingona Ventures, and Starting Line Ventures.

“Beni will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and water use associated with fashion retail all while helping shoppers save money. Buoyant Ventures, a female-owned venture fund, is proud to support this female executive team who is on a mission to help transform the circular economy,” Amy Francetic, Managing General Partner of Buoyant Ventures, said in a press release.