Whirli secures £4m Seed funding led by Octopus Ventures to scale its toy sharing platform
The financing round was led by Octopus Ventures with participation from MMC Ventures.
Whirli operates a subscription service for children's toys based on a circular economy model. Subscribers can borrow, swap, and eventually keep items to reduce household clutter and environmental waste.
Toy sharing platform Whirli has secured four million pounds in Seed funding to develop its proprietary technology and expand its customer offering. Octopus Ventures led the investment round, with additional backing from MMC Ventures.
The London-based startup operates a managed rental service that allows parents to borrow toys rather than buying them outright, helping to mitigate domestic clutter and landfill waste. The fresh capital will support ongoing investments in child development resources, personalisation features, and data science applications.
Founded in 2018, the company leverages a custom technology platform to track tens of thousands of items circulating between households. The latest injection of capital positions the business to scale its operations as consumer interest in sustainable retail continues to grow.
From the founder
"Consumers wanting to shop sustainably should not have to compromise with higher prices or greater inconveniences. We’re really proud to be at the forefront of this technology-enabled disruption that is reshaping consumer behaviour and retail. Through the power of the sharing economy, Whirli has created a winning proposition for parents and for the planet, and we are delighted to welcome Octopus Ventures and MMC Ventures on our journey."
Nigel Phan
Founder at Whirli
Investor perspective
"The toy market is huge, but it remains mostly stuck in the dark ages of e-commerce 1.0 and offline retail. We believe there is a real opportunity for a new entrant like Whirli to disrupt with a new approach. What’s particularly exciting is that Whirli is good for parents and the planet. By enabling parents to ‘borrow’ only the toys they need for their children’s current life stage they avoid the clutter and expense of toy ownership, while the planet benefits from removing the toxic cycle of cheap plastic toys being purchased which then end up in landfill. The latest generation of parents are also much more comfortable with the sharing economy and recognise the benefits of borrowing rather than owning. We believe this will transcend to the toy category, particularly as more of the GenZ generation begin to have families of their own. These are trends which make now a great time to scale a business like this and we’re delighted to be working with Nigel and the Whirli team to help make it happen."
Rebecca Hunt
Partner, Octopus Ventures
Use of funds
- 01Continue product development
- 02Fund research and development
