Phaistos Investment Fund invests in Pandas.io

5G Ventures announces the co-investment of Phaistos Investment Fund in the Greek company Pandas.io together with international investors from Europe and the USA. Pandas.io is changing the trade-in process for used smartphones, transforming a time-consuming and complex procedure into a fully automated experience lasting a few minutes. The company, whose founder and CEO is Fanis Koutouvelis, is joined by executives from Greece and abroad with a multi-year experience in technology and consulting services.

Pandas.io has designed an innovative and integrated solution in the form of a “Pandas ATM“, where consumers can resell a smartphone at a price that perfectly corresponds to the value and technical characteristics of the device.

The consumer places their device in the “Pandas ATM”, installed in retail outlets. Pandas.io has incorporated a wireless technology for retrieving IMEI, the unique number that accompanies each mobile phone from the beginning of its life cycle. Based on the IMEI, the “Pandas ATM” extracts information such as the year of production and time of first activation. “Pandas ATM” also conducts a series of diagnostic checks as well as inspections using machine vision technology for any damage to the screen or other parts of the device. Upon completion of the process, the consumer receives a binding offer and provided they accept it a discount voucher is created for direct purchases from the partner store.

The solution developed by Pandas.io includes four internationally registered patents and drastically accelerates the resale of a used smartphone. The time currently required for such a process can be as long as three weeks, resulting in consumers being discouraged and only 20% of older devices being resold¹. It is estimated that around one billion smartphones are thrown away rather than resold every year. However, in recent times the market for used smartphones has been growing steadily at an annual growth rate of 15% and with a value of up to USD 60 billion². Pandas.io’s solution makes a decisive contribution to promoting sustainability and a circular economy, by extending the lifespan of devices and preventing their uncontrolled disposal.

[1] IDC, Worldwide Used Smartphone Forecast 2019-2023

 

[2] Counterpoint, Refurbished smartphone market beats expectations, grows 15% YoY