The Cultt

History

2024: Founder of adtech service AstraLab buys stake in The Cultt

In October 2024, it became known that Ivan Paryshev, the founder of the AstraLab adtech service, acquired a 2.9% stake in the Russian resale platform of luxury bags and accessories The Cultt. The deal attracted the attention of analysts who estimated the value of the entire company in the range from ₽600 million to ₽1,2 billion.

According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, simultaneously with Paryshev's entry into the capital of Cult LLC (the Russian legal entity of the platform), the Zerno Ventures impact venture fund increased its share from 14.68% to 20.21%. On the same day, the company increased its authorized capital by 11%, to ₽13 thousand. The founders of The Cult - Anna Avtaykina, Daria Zosimenko, Maria Manaeva and Tatyana Moshkova - reduced their ownership from 21.33% to 19.22% each.

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TAdviser

According to RB.RU, Alexey Pavlyuchenkov, chief analyst at the Zorko investment platform, noted that the resale market in Russia has been growing by 10-15% annually in recent years.

"If we start from international statistics, according to which the share of used goods in the luxury segment is about 15% of the entire segment, we will get an estimate of the Russian luxury sale market in the region of ₽60 billion," the expert said.

The Cult was founded in 2020 by four female entrepreneurs. The platform specializes in reselling luxury bags and accessories. The demand for such goods has grown significantly after the imposition of sanctions against Russia and the departure of many foreign brands from the Russian market.

In January 2024, the Zerno Ventures fund already invested in The Cultt, receiving 14.68% of the company. The transaction amount amounted to up to $1 million. The funds were used to scale the project.

Competition in the luxury sale market in Russia is intensifying. The segment leader is Oskelly, followed by growing Second Friend Store, The Cult, Ex-bags and Spin4Spin platforms.^[1]

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