Egypt's Acasia Angels Joins Investment Round for Greece’s Swaplanet

Acasia Angels, a global angel investment group based in Egypt, has joined a pre-seed investment round in the Athens-based retail apparel swap platform Swaplanet, which raised $529,000. Other investors in the round included Genesis Ventures, Zeno Capital (Helidoni Foundation), and Hellenic Business Angels Network.

Founded in 2021 by Sherif Barakat, Helena Stamou and Jimmy Nicolaides, Swaplanet enables parents to swap, pass on, and sell the clothes their babies and children have outgrown, thus reducing textile waste and household carbon footprints.

According to Barakat, Swaplanet aims to save 15 million kg of CO2, equivalent to 800,000 trees, and 2.6 billion liters of water, equal to around 240,000 households, in 2026 alone. The newly-raised funding will be used to expand Swaplanet’s reach across Greece, acquire new customers, and develop the platform.

Swaplanet's founders envision building a network of environmentally conscious citizens. "Our role starts from the moment a human is born, creating positive habits that will accompany them throughout their lives: sharing what is no longer needed with other humans and reducing their environmental footprint from day one," Barakat tells StartupScene. "We aim to serve those suffering from the global cost of living crisis by providing high-quality clothing items in exchange for items households already own but don’t necessarily need anymore."

The Swaplanet platform hopes to make a significant environmental impact, as textiles are responsible for 10% of CO2 emissions and produce 20% of wastewater worldwide. Reused clothing represents the fastest-growing sub-segment in fashion.

Acasia Angels plans to offer its expertise in go-to-market strategy, financial and fundraising management, and market expansion to the Swaplanet platform. Swaplanet had previously raised EUR 100,000 from Think Bigger Capital in May 2021.