Epic Angels, the global all-female investor collective, has invested in Refurbi, a Colombia-founded company building a circular ecosystem for affordable, sustainable refurbished smartphones, as the startup raises a $4 million seed extension round across equity and debt.
The financing brings together Epic Angels alongside Latin Leap, PSM Impact Ventures, and other strategic investors, with participation from multilateral and banking institutions, including the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Banco Itaú. The new capital is slated to support Refurbi’s growth, strengthen commercial scale, and accelerate expansion into Mexico as part of a broader regional strategy.
Refurbi was founded to address what it describes as high informality and distrust in Latin America’s device resale market by pairing industrial refurbishment processes with proprietary technology and a trust-oriented customer proposition. Over time, the company has built an integrated platform that includes a refurbished device marketplace, trade-in programs, specialized software, and financing and insurance solutions aimed at helping retailers, manufacturers, operators, and insurers manage the electronic device lifecycle more efficiently.
Led by co-founders Sebastián Jiménez and Silvia Mercedes, Refurbi says it has become Colombia’s leading refurbished smartphone platform after validating its model locally. The company reports serving more than 80,000 users and estimates it participates in close to 0.5% of Colombia’s total mobile phone market. Refurbi also points to product standards intended to mirror new-device experiences, including a 14-month warranty, packaging comparable to new devices, and 30-day returns.
With the seed extension, Refurbi plans to use its Colombia base as a launchpad to enter Mexico and expand its trade-in model powered by proprietary technology. The company is also positioning the raise as a step toward a longer-term target of reaching US$100 million in revenue by 2030 through partnerships with retailers, manufacturers, and telecom operators across the region.
Epic Angels, which says it has more than 750 female angel investors and has made 43 investments to date, framed the investment as a bet on Refurbi’s combination of affordability, quality, and circular-economy impact in a market facing growing electronic waste challenges and demand for lower-cost devices.
KEY QUOTES
“This round allows us to consolidate what is already working and take our model to a new scale. We believe that well-executed refurbishment can become key infrastructure for more sustainable and inclusive access to technology across the region,”
Sebastián Jiménez, Founder and CEO, Refurbi
“Refurbi is reshaping how Latin America accesses technology,”
Maaike Doyer, Founding and Managing Partner, Epic Angels
