Bengaluru resale start-up Circle raises Rs 25 crore seed led by Nexus

Circle, a Bengaluru start-up that runs a marketplace for pre-owned goods, has raised Rs 25 crore in a seed funding round led by Nexus Venture Partners, according to the company's announcement reported on Thursday, October 15, 2026. Existing investor Titan Capital and Myntra co-founder Raveen Sastry also took part, and Delhivery's chief operating officer Ajith Pai joined as an angel investor. Circle, founded in 2025 by Chirag Kataruka and Ankit Misra, said it will use the money to expand beyond Bengaluru, sharpen its AI-based pricing, discovery and verification tools, and build out its network of Trust Hubs and logistics.

India's used-goods market has long run on informal channels: classified ads, local dealers and word of mouth. Buyers worry about whether a product is genuine and in working order; sellers worry about haggling, no-shows and payment. Circle's model is described as a managed marketplace, which means the platform itself steps into the transaction to check items, set prices and handle logistics, rather than simply putting buyers and sellers in touch. The company's Trust Hubs and its use of AI for pricing and verification are its answer to the trust problem that has held the second-hand market back.

The round is also a signal about where early-stage investors are placing bets. Nexus Venture Partners is one of the better-known venture funds backing Indian start-ups, and its decision to lead a seed round in a company barely a year old suggests investors see room for an organised player in resale. Interest in second-hand buying has grown with rising prices of new electronics, furniture and appliances, and with more people moving cities for work and needing to buy or sell household goods quickly.

The company says repeat use is strong. Co-founder Ankit Misra said nearly four in ten buyers come back within 90 days and half of sellers list another item, figures the company has shared but which have not been independently verified. For a marketplace, repeat behaviour of this kind is what investors look for, because it lowers the cost of winning each sale.

Circle funding at a glance Item | Detail Round | Seed, Rs 25 crore Lead investor | Nexus Venture Partners Total raised so far | About Rs 28.4 crore Home city | Bengaluru Founded | 2025

Short-term: The money gives Circle the means to open in more cities and to add Trust Hubs and delivery capacity. Users in Bengaluru may see more categories and faster checks on listed items as the company invests in its verification tools.

Long-term: If the managed model works outside Bengaluru, it could pull more of India's second-hand trade from informal channels onto organised platforms, with verified listings and clearer prices. That would also help the circular economy, keeping usable goods in circulation for longer instead of in storage or landfills. The challenge will be keeping costs under control, since inspecting and moving individual used items is expensive compared with selling new stock.

Who is affected: People in Bengaluru, and later other cities, who buy or sell used goods; young professionals and students who move often and need to furnish or clear homes quickly; competing resale and classifieds platforms; and early-stage founders in consumer marketplaces, who can read the round as a sign that investors are still backing the category.

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