Barty
A peer-to-peer platform where second-hand goods were swapped for points rather than money
- Founded
- 2019
- Closed
- 2022
- Lifespan
- 3 years
- Country
- Turkey
- City
- Istanbul
- Sector
- Marketplaces
- Founders
- Semih Kılıçgedik, Öykü Sorgun
- Investors
- Keiretsu Forum Turkey, Geometri Venture Development, Alesta Yatırım, Kanca Ventures, Kültepe Yatırım
- At its peak
- More than 200,000 registered users and more than 30,000 swaps (egirişim, 2022)
- Cause of closure
- Business model failed
What did it do?
Barty was an Istanbul-based mobile platform on which people swapped second-hand goods with one another without using money. It valued items using machine learning, and users could trade across categories with Barty points. Starting with books, the platform expanded to 18 categories.
Why did it shut down?
According to the team's statement in September 2022, Barty brokered more than 30,000 swaps among more than 200,000 registered users, but because of its business model it reached only a third of its targeted growth. According to a 2021 Webrazzi report, the platform charged no membership fees, in-app purchases, commission or advertising; revenue was expected from exchanging points with credit card schemes and business partners. Although there was user interest, it appears that this structure could not generate enough revenue to sustain the company; this last assessment is an interpretation. The team shut the product down and moved to the Barty Digital model, selling software and design services.
The story
When Semih Kılıçgedik came across a licensed business-to-business barter platform in Turkey, a question occurred to him: why not the same thing for individuals? The Boğaziçi University graduate started out in Istanbul in April 2019 under the name Bartme. The app valued second-hand goods using machine learning and let users swap them with virtual points, without using money. The first category was books. The start-up was selected for Workup, the programme backed by İş Bankası.
Soon renamed Barty, the company raised 1 million TL in seed funding at a 5 million TL valuation in September 2020. According to Webrazzi, it had 11,000 active users and more than 2,000 completed swaps at the time; the number of categories had risen to 18. In September 2021 new investment came from angel investors at Keiretsu Forum Türkiye at a USD 2 million valuation. Co-founder Öykü Sorgun said they had reached more than 150,000 active users in nine months and that more than 13,000 items worth 750,000 TL had been swapped. The platform charged no fees, commission or advertising.
A year later the team announced it had come to the end of the road. The message published by egirişim said they had brokered more than 30,000 swaps among more than 200,000 registered users, followed by a candid admission: “because of our business model, we were only able to grow Barty to a third of what we had aimed for.”
The closure was handled in an orderly way. The team identified around 500 users left with a positive balance from their swaps and paid out the balances, totalling around 90,000 TL, as gift vouchers or cash. At users' request, some 300 saplings were donated to the TEMA Foundation, a Turkish environmental charity. The company itself did not close; the team aimed to stay afloat by selling software and design services under the name Barty Digital and to raise funds for a new model focused on the trust problem in buying second-hand goods.
Barty's story shows the limits of how far an idea users love can go with a model that does not generate revenue.
Lessons for founders
- User numbers are no substitute for a revenue model; test from day one where your money will come from.
- Models such as swapping, which require both sides to need something at the same moment, grow slowly without liquidity.
- When you close, pay out users' balances; trust is the capital for your next venture.
Sources
- Turkish start-up Barty halts operations and will carry on with its new model, Barty Digital (egirişim, 2022-09-15)
- Peer-to-peer swapping platform Barty raises seed investment at a 5 million TL valuation (Webrazzi, 2020-09-15)
- Money-free shopping platform Barty raises investment from Keiretsu Forum Türkiye at a USD 2 million valuation (Webrazzi, 2021-09-01)
- Bartme: the platform for swapping second-hand goods between people at their fair value (egirişim, 2020-03-24)
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