Published
Oct 13, 2021
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Poshmark acquires sneaker authentication tech company Suede One

Published
Oct 13, 2021

Secondhand fashion marketplace Poshmark, Inc. has made its first acquisition of another company, purchasing virtual sneaker authentication platform Suede One for an undisclosed sum.


Suede One's tech can authenticate popular sneaker models with 99% accuracy - Photo: suedeone.com

 
Founded in 2020, Suede One uses machine learning, computer vision and expert human review to authenticate sneakers. According to internal testing, the company’s technology can correctly authenticate popular sneaker models, such as Jordan 1s and Yeezy 350s, with greater than 99% accuracy.
 
In addition, the platform already has a strong reputation for quick and accurate authentication among the resale community. Notably, the company recently authenticated a pair of Nike Air Yeezy 1 Prototypes that sold for $1.8 million.

The platform’s acquisition by Poshmark, which will see Suede One’s management join the Redwood City, California-based marketplace’s own team, ties in with Poshmark’s current focus on strategic investments aiming to boost progress in high-growth resale categories – such as sneakers – and improve user experience.
 
“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,” said Poshmark founder and CEO Manish Chandra in a release.
 
“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,” he added.
 
Suede One’s tech capabilities will be deployed to complement Poshmark’s existing Posh Protect and Posh Authenticate services, which the company will now be able to enhance and scale more effectively.
 
In particular, the marketplace alluded to the possibility of extending Posh Authenticate, which currently offers free authentication by Poshmark’s luxury experts for orders of $500 or more, to include virtual authentication for sneakers at multiple price points. Poshmark also said that the service could be extended to cover additional categories.
 
The marketplace’s acquisition of Suede One comes on the heels of its recent announcement of the creation of a dedicated seller experience team under the direction of co-founder Tracy Sun. This move, which reflects another facet of the company’s efforts to improve its platform for users, was further complemented by the introduction of new the seller-focused My Shoppers and Closet Insights tools.

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