Swappie, discover the differences – La Stampa

Until very recently, every time a new smartphone came out, many of us felt an irresistible urge to change what we had that now seemed inexorably obsolete. A little was that the operating system was really starting to slow down due to an incorrect and recently abolished commercial practice; but a lot depended on the fact that the new model actually looked much better even though the actual differences were minimal.

Changing a smartphone a year has been a collective intoxication from which we are starting to heal. But even the fact of taking a new smartphone is senseless: there are models from one, two or even three years ago, with excellent performance. Even if used. They are the so-called refurbished smartphones, that is used but regenerated and guaranteed. Starting from this consideration, several startups were born in Europe: one of these, Swappie, is even the company that has grown the most in the European Union in the last year (+ 477 percent). Dedicated only to the iPhone market, it was founded in Finland in 2016 by a young couple, Sami Marttinen & Emma Lehikoinen, who rightly focus on the circular economy, on the harmful impacts of a lifestyle based on the use. and throws, and on the benefits for all of the second-hand market.

The idea of ​​Swappie itself is not brilliant: even in Italy there are some who have dedicated themselves to the used iPhone market, so to speak. However, it is brilliant to have thought of making it a global platform, already present in 24 European countries. Not being satisfied with running a small shop in your neighborhood. And the difference in opportunities with Italy is sensational: while our startups, with a few exceptions, are struggling with extremely risky loans, in three years Swappie has raised almost 150 million euros in investments.