Used luxury watch trading platform announces £4m investment

An pre-owned luxury watch trading platform has announced a £4m investment from leading consumer growth investor Active Partners, with participation from existing angel investors.

Subdial’s fresh funds will be used to enhance its digital experience for collectors, helping them navigate the platform more easily, as well as to bolster international expansion to accommodate demand. Other existing angel investors included John Ayton, Christian Woolfenden and Matt Barker.

The market for luxury watches, both new and pre-owned, can often be opaque even for seasoned collectors, let alone those buying their first luxury piece. Prices are often speculative with high street pre-owned dealers charging significant markups over the true market price.

Subdial has doubled its top-line revenue every six months since being founded. With over 22,000 appraisals since beginning operations, Subdial has been rated 5 out of 5 on Trustpilot with customers emphasising its personal service for traders, selection of watches and speed of shipping.

The company currently sells worldwide and buys from collectors across the UK, and has plans to expand its buying operations.

The investment will be used to enhance Subdial’s customer experience, including a customized tech build that makes the front-end experience more intuitive, and to build out the collection management features of the platform.

In addition, Subdial will also use the funding to deepen its presence in the UK watch community by curating tailored experiences for collectors and significantly expanding the number of watches available on the platform.

Subdial currently adds around 30 watches a week to the platform via its weekly ‘drops’ with plans to increase this to more than 100 watches a week over the next 12 months.

Ross Crane, CEO and co-founder of Subdial, said: “Subdial was founded out of a genuine passion for watches, and the desire to create a trustworthy, transparent and data-led platform for watch enthusiasts looking to trade and build their collections.

“We want to build a company at the intersection of technology and good old fashioned customer service. It’s been such an exciting journey so far, and we’re really proud of the amazing community of collectors that have become part of Subdial.

“But the best is yet to come. There is so much more that can be done in the pre-owned space, providing digital collections and seamless trading together with a sense of community. We are thrilled to have Active Partners - who have an amazing track record in the consumer space - on board for this next chapter.”