ReFunk’s Post

An update from ReFunk founders: As the fresh chapter of the New Year begins, we have decided that at this time our ReFunk chapter has come to an end. After 3 years of growing ReFunk from a university project into a business, we didn’t take this decision lightly, but it certainly felt like the right route for us. ReFunk worked hard to mobilise the Irish upcycling community and made serious progress in progressing a circular economy for furniture. We are immensely proud of the impact we made in such a short space of time including but not limited to: * Supporting over 100 upcyclers in Ireland in transforming their passion into business  *Diverting over 800 pieces of furniture from landfills  *Hosting multiple up cycling workshops and pop up shops. We can’t overstate how much we learnt over the past 3 years, about sustainability in business, start-ups, innovation, collaboration and relationships. It's also been awe-inspiring to see the drive and ambition of other green founders, and we’re hopeful as to the progress that can be made when such dedicated individuals commit themselves to disrupting the system. Most importantly, a heartfelt thank you to every single person who helped us along the way- it’s so encouraging to see the willingness of people when you simply ask for guidance. Whilst for now, we are all growing in our own directions, we are striving to take all that we have learnt forward with us into our current and future endeavours. You’ve not seen the last of us! With warmth, Ellie, Anna, Ellen, and Meredith

What a week! Last week co-founders Anna Sheehan and Ellie Walters travelled to Amsterdam to take part in the third edition of Adyen’s Impact Start-up Accelerator Programme. It was a jam-packed few days with plenty of workshops and activities, culminating in a pitch competition on Friday in the STRAAT museum- a seriously impressive venue! Big congrats to winners Bradley Heslop and Andrew Juma of DOT Glasses. Huge thank you to Brian O'Malley, Anna Rysenbry and all the Adyen team for facilitating such a well-organised, informative, and fun-filled programme and to our fellow 12 startups who provided lots of inspiration as well as many laughs throughout the week! A special thanks to our mentors Zoe Ashton and Michael Bernstein who were a massive support over the course of the programme, especially in preparing us for the pitch. We certainly came away from Amsterdam brimming with ideas and excited for the future of Refunk 🚀

ReFunk now offers our services across the United Kingdom. The UK is the second-largest furniture market in Europe, with a market size of £3.2 billion. Yet, each year 22 million pieces of furniture are discarded across the country. Interest in a more #sustainable and circular approach to furniture is gaining momentum, however, evidenced by the 171% increase in searches for “sustainable furniture” reported by eBay UK. We are excited to take advantage of the many opportunities afforded by the UK market. At ReFunk, we look forward to expanding our community of upcyclers, and fuelling the #circulareconomy in the UK. We would like to invite our network to spread the word by sharing this post with anyone who may be interested in joining our growing community in the UK!

It was fantastic to see The Late Late Big Repair Challenge featured on last Friday’s RTE Late Late Show. The segment saw participants restoring furniture of sentimental value which may have been disposed of otherwise - a premise we wholeheartedly support here at ReFunk. It is so fantastic to see our national broadcaster highlighting the importance - and joy - of upcycling. The inclusion of this segment reflects a growing interest among consumers in #sustainable and #circular alternatives to poor-quality, fast furniture. As the #costofliving crisis continues, and the devastating effects of the #climatecrisis become evermore difficult to ignore, the importance of upcycling cannot be understated. At ReFunk, we are proud to offer our community a means to access high-quality, bespoke pieces that are kinder to both planet and pocket. https://lnkd.in/dT8AZ723