If you're involved in reselling or live selling in the UK, you've probably heard of Tilt. But if you've mainly been selling on Whatnot, eBay, Vinted or TikTok, you might not know much about it.
Tilt is a British live shopping marketplace founded by Abhi Thanendran and Neil Shah. Sellers go live, showcase products to viewers and sell through fast-paced auctions and other live shopping formats.
The platform first became particularly known for fashion, vintage clothing and trainers, but has been expanding into other areas including trading cards, watches and collectibles.
There's serious investment behind it
Tilt raised $18 million in 2024 and another $26 million earlier this summer, taking the amount it has raised to more than $50 million.
One of the interesting names in that latest round was Vinted Ventures, the investment arm of Vinted. It joined investors including TQ Ventures, Balderton Capital, Earlybird and Seedcamp.
Vinted hasn't bought Tilt, but one of Europe's biggest secondhand marketplaces now has a financial stake in the company.
Tilt is putting AI into live selling
Tilt is also developing technology specifically aimed at making live selling easier.
Its Snap technology can recognise an item being shown on camera and help create the product listing. The company has also been developing an AI seller assistant, improved product discovery across live shows and technology that can turn livestreams into short-form social media content.
For sellers, the aim is simple: reduce some of the work happening behind the scenes so they can concentrate on selling.
The UK is just the beginning
Tilt started in the UK but has now expanded into Spain and Italy.
Its longer-term ambition is to build a much larger European live commerce marketplace, using what it has learned in the UK to expand into different countries and eventually further internationally.
There's evidence of substantial seller businesses developing on the platform too. Fortune recently looked at a number of Tilt sellers and how some have turned live selling into significant businesses.
You can even invest in Tilt
Tilt has also opened a community investment round through Crowdcube.
This means members of the public can currently invest in the company. According to Tilt, the community round is being offered at the same price as its recent $26 million institutional funding round.
Of course, investing in a private company like this carries significant risk and you could lose all of the money invested, so anyone considering it should read Crowdcube's information and risk warnings carefully.
One to watch
The UK live selling market is becoming increasingly interesting.
Whatnot continues to grow, TikTok has made live commerce a major part of its shopping proposition, eBay is developing eBay Live, and Tilt is building its own approach while expanding beyond the UK.
You don't need to sell on every platform, and different platforms will suit different sellers.
But if you're involved in reselling, it's useful to understand what's happening across the market rather than only watching the platform you currently sell on.
And with more than $50 million raised, Vinted among its investors, new AI selling tools and expansion underway across Europe, Tilt is certainly one worth knowing about.
Check it out here: if you use our code when you signup you might win up to £100 to spend on clothes!
This is the app: