Over 3000 tons of CO2 saved and over 210.000 clients – Flip.ro’s first three years

Flip, a young Romanian company that encourages circular economy by refurbishing smartphones, which they reintroduce on the market as good as new, offers information about their first 3 years. Throughout this time, the positive impact that the company’s business model has on the environment, as well as other businesses and the public, has supported the company’s mission. According to Flip’s data, a refurbished smartphone reduces the quantity of carbon dioxide associated with producing new phones by 63%, on average. Through its activity, the start-up has contributed, so far, to saving 3188 tons of CO2, a quantity equivalent to the absorption capacity of 4 forests the size of Herăstrău Park.

The first three years of a successful circular business

In the company’s three years of activity, over 210.000 clients have used their services, either to buy or sell phones, and 9 out of 10 consumers recommend Flip. The company has over 160 employees at the moment, and in 2022, it expanded to two new markets in the region. Besides the option of selling smartphones through the platform, Flip collaborates with other large electronics retailers (Flanco, eMAG, Samsung, Huawei), offering buyback services directly in their stores, using a dedicated app, Flip BuyBack. Through these services, they contribute to diminishing the quantity of e-waste generated by unused phones, becoming the largest buyback provider on the Romanian market. Currently, Flip is the largest company refurbishing and selling refurbished smartphones on the local market.

Moreover, Flip has also extended its services through B2B solutions, oriented at companies on the Romanian market that want to make more sustainable choices, offering buyback services or selling refurbished smartphones.

Read more about

The Joint Initiative on Circular Economy to provide €16 billion to circular projects by 2025

read more

Flip supports Romanian companies with implementing their ESG objectives

Flip’s mission is to encourage more responsible consumer attitudes among both final users, as well as Romanian companies. So far, over 7500 companies have used Flip’s services, most coming from domains such as FMCG, construction, commercial or hospitality. The benefits offered to companies include financing options for SMEs, ensuring, at the same time, the safest data erasure practices, through their ISO 17065 certification.

“Companies are becoming more and more mindful of the impact their activity has on the environment and are looking for palpable solutions. Selling used smartphones through buyback services or buying refurbished smartphones for their employees are two practical solutions to diminishing their carbon footprint that we offer companies. The funds they save by having a more responsible attitude towards the environment can be used for other investments. So far, on the B2B segment of our business, we have an income of 3.3 million euros, and we have collaborated with SMEs, multinational as well as national companies.”, declares Nicolae Trofin, Chief Sales Officer for business partnerships at Flip.

Encouraging more sustainable shopping

By 2023, over 210.000 clients have used the services offered by Flip, either to buy refurbished smartphones, or to sell used phones that they were no longer using. The fastest transaction registered on the platform happened in 2 seconds.

The company has paid over 17.5 million euros to Romanians who chose to sell their phones through the platform, and in 2022, payments made to these clients increased by 138% compared to the previous year. Most of Flip’s clients are from Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Brașov, Iași and Constanța.

“Flip started from the need of being able to buy and sell refurbished phones at the highest technical standards, in a manner that is both fast and safe. We have innovated in this field, and the public trusts our services. We want to keep up Flip’s innovative character in the years to come, and we are looking at expanding into new markets, as well as introducing new product categories on the platform, so that circular economy and protecting the environment turn from a trend into a habit.”, says George Moroianu, Flip co-founder.

The company’s dynamic development

In 2022, after about two years of activity, the company expanded into two new markets in the region: in Bulgaria in June, and Hungary in October, where they are present under the name Rejoy.hu. The company has grown from 10 employees in their first year to over 160, of which 83 are specialists in the service team. The space has also grown, from 30 sqm in 2020, to over 1000 sqm today, in order to accommodate the service at the highest technical standards in the industry.

In its first year, Flip had a turnover of 2.5 million euros. In 2021, the turnover increased to 13 million euros, and in 2022, the number tripled, reaching 36 million euros.