The path to the current platform has not been straightforward. Before the digital marketplace took shape, the company operated under the name Microliving Scandinavia AB and worked with a completely different business idea, focused on the physical construction sector.
Microliving started as a project to create affordable and more sustainable housing for groups that often fall between today's housing options," says John Waldemarsson and continues:
It primarily concerned young first-time buyers and pensioners who wanted to leave a larger villa but did not necessarily want to move into an apartment, and who at the same time did not want or could not buy something too large and expensive."
However, the plan was thwarted when external factors changed.
The idea was to develop smaller, well-planned and cost-effective homes through flexible modular construction. Then the pandemic came, construction costs changed and banks became significantly more restrictive with financing new housing projects," says John Waldemarsson.
This severely weakened the conditions for implementing the project and Microliving was put on hold before any operational sales had begun.
Instead of shutting down the company, they let it rest while waiting for the right opportunity. From the disappointment of the stalled housing project, the outlines of a completely new concept soon began to take shape.
When the idea for Reloopdesign was later born, we saw a more scalable opportunity that was also close to our original interest in sustainability and resource efficiency," says the CEO.
Instead of shutting down the company, the founders chose to restructure the business and change the name to Reloopdesign Group AB.
This is a clear pivot, but there is also a common thread. Microliving was about using space, materials and financial resources more smartly. Reloopdesign takes the same basic idea forward, but through a digital marketplace and infrastructure that can encompass many types of circular products and materials.
Technical hurdles and local challenges
Building a new e-commerce platform from scratch takes time, and the ambition was high from the start. At the end of June, the service was soft-launched in four countries simultaneously.
The work up to the soft launch this summer included, among other things, development of the marketplace, recruitment and quality assurance of brands, agreements, payment flows, logistics and adaptations for trade between the Nordic countries," says John Waldemarsson.
Going broad across the entire Nordic region at once placed demands on the structure, as the region is far from homogeneous.
The biggest challenge has been that the Nordic countries are often seen as a single market, despite the fact that each country has its own conditions. This applies to language, purchasing behavior, payments, shipping, VAT and returns handling. Norway also involves customs and import issues that do not exist to the same extent within the EU.
Underneath the surface, a system was also required that could handle several independent actors in the same cash flow without the company itself having to have its own warehouse.
Technically, the big task has been to build a flow where several independent brands can sell through the same marketplace but handle their own warehousing and deliveries. Payment should be distributed correctly, the customer should have a cohesive experience and we must also be able to handle cross-border orders.
To succeed with the establishment in neighboring countries, the company has hired people on site.
Our country managers therefore play an important role. They help us understand each market, build local relationships, recruit brands and develop the B2B business.
We are not trying to steer four markets solely from Sweden. We combine a common technical platform and Nordic strategy with people who understand the local markets, business cultures and customer needs.
The assortment itself has also required some explanatory work towards customers.
From a marketing perspective, another challenge has been to explain that circular is not a single product category," says John Waldemarsson.
It can be anything from furniture and interior design to building materials, promotional products and packaging. Therefore, we need to combine clear quality assurance with sufficient breadth to be relevant to both companies and consumers.
Corporate sales show the way
The marketplace is open to private individuals, but it is in a completely different customer segment that the company sees the fastest movement and the largest volumes right now.
Right now, we see the greatest potential and fastest development within B2B," says the CEO and continues:
Companies and public organizations are facing increasing demands to be able to document their purchases and understand the impact in their value chains. At the same time, it is still difficult to find circular products, compare alternatives and obtain relevant product and sustainability information in one place.
The way they process corporate customers differs from how they sell to ordinary consumers.
For corporate customers, we therefore work more consultatively and relationship-based. It involves direct sales, partnerships, requests for quotations and solutions for larger or recurring purchases," says John Waldemarsson.
We are also developing functions that will make the product information useful in companies' sustainability work and work around indirect emissions in the value chain.
For the private side, it is instead about simplifying the experience.
When it comes to B2C, the focus is on inspiration, clear product communication, social media and making circular design attractive and easy to buy. The private customer does not need to be an expert on sustainability. The products must also stand on their own feet in terms of design, quality, price and function.
However, the two customer groups are not seen as isolated from each other, but benefit from the common platform.
B2B and private sales strengthen each other at the same time. Corporate business can create larger volumes, while the consumer side builds visibility, brand and demand.
The dynamics between generations
Behind the operation is a trio with widely different backgrounds. The tasks are divided between Chief Operating Officer, Chief Technology Officer and CEO, where decades of experience meet young drive.
I primarily work with the company's strategy, financing, partnerships, B2B sales and international expansion," says John Waldemarsson and continues:
Ervin is CTO and is responsible for technology, platform and product development. Simon is COO and is responsible for the operational business, growth and development of our Finnish market.
Co-founders Simon and Ervin are 17 years old. Mixing the young age with the CEO's background from traditional sales is described as a recipe for success.
In a small company, the roles are naturally not completely demarcated. We work closely together and help each other with everything from bringing in new brands and product data to campaigns and developing the customer experience.
He sees the team composition as a pure advantage in everyday work.
The age difference is a strength. I contribute with long experience of complex B2B sales, business development and working with larger companies, while Ervin and Simon contribute with technical expertise, a natural digital perspective, entrepreneurial drive and high implementation speed.
The lack of old tracks means that the younger founders dare to think differently.
They are also less bound by how a marketplace or e-commerce traditionally should function," says John Waldemarsson.
This leads to them often questioning ingrained structures and finding other ways forward. The combination of experience and a younger perspective means that we see both risks and opportunities from different angles.
The basis for them even starting the company together was a common observation.
I have spent a large part of my career working with B2B sales, business development and international customer relations. A large part of my background is in subscription-based software solutions for financial reporting, statutory sustainability reporting and other regulatory reporting, primarily aimed at larger and listed companies in Sweden, Norway and the Baltics. I also have experience from the property, construction and property technology area," says John Waldemarsson.
This has given me a clear picture of the gap between the sustainability requirements that companies face and the data that is actually available when they make their purchases. This is also a key part of the background to Reloopdesign. We do not just want to create another e-commerce platform, but build a platform where relevant sustainability information can follow the transaction.
Ervin and Simon complemented the picture with their knowledge of technology and existing second-hand e-commerce.
Ervin, who is CTO, has experience in building his own digital systems within property technology and e-commerce. Simon, COO, has previously worked with entrepreneurship within second hand and sustainable e-commerce. He is currently responsible for the operational business and growth.
When their different experiences were put on the table, it became clear that the market suffered from a clear structural flaw. There was no shortage of good circular products, the problem was rather that the small producers were scattered on their own websites and completely lacked a unified channel to reach the larger buyers.
Many also lack the resources to establish their own sales channels in several markets.
With that insight, they began to sketch out the solution.
We therefore saw the opportunity to gather them on a common Nordic marketplace and at the same time make it easier for both companies and private individuals to choose circular," says John Waldemarsson.
We have different backgrounds and perspectives but share the ambition to build an international company that can create concrete change.
In addition to the founding trio, the company has recruited staff throughout the Nordic region, including an expert to review the products.
The three of us founders are complemented today by a broader Nordic team. Thomas Krog has experience in B2B sales, sustainability reporting and is responsible for the Danish market. Bjørn Kringstad has more than 30 years of experience in annual reports and company communication and is responsible for Norway.
Shobini Sai works as a business developer in circular issues. She has a master's degree that combines design, business development, technology and sustainability. She is also a co-founder of a circular design initiative that explores how local industrial waste can be transformed into attractive products. With us, she works with business development, brand relations, communication, events and strategic product development. It is precisely the combination of commercial experience, technology, young and old entrepreneurship, local market knowledge and circular design expertise that makes the team strong.
Aims for hundreds of millions in sales
With the infrastructure in place and the products live, it is now about scaling up the business and building functions that attract the really big buyers.
Our biggest success so far is that we have managed to go from idea to a functioning Nordic marketplace and at the same time brought with us brands from several different countries and product areas," says John Waldemarsson.
The reception from the industry has shown that they are on the right track.
For us, it is an important receipt that the problem we are trying to solve also exists on the supplier side. Many smaller and innovative circular brands need better reach, more sales channels and help to reach the corporate market. For a single brand, it is both costly and time-consuming to establish itself separately in four countries.
Going forward, it is primarily the transaction volume that will be carefully measured.
The most important overall parameter for the rest of the year is the total sales value through the platform. But in our current phase, we also follow how many brands are actually active and receive relevant traffic, inquiries or sales. The number of connected partners means less if they do not create value for customers.
As B2B is a primary focus, the customer journey is also evaluated specifically for corporate customers.
On the B2B side, we also follow the number of qualified inquiries and how many of them develop into concrete deals. There, the purchasing processes are often longer, but the order values can at the same time be significantly larger.
The plan is now to go from a newly launched platform to a profitable business machine.
For the rest of 2026, the focus is on developing the marketplace from soft launch to an established commercial business. We will connect more carefully selected brands, we are 18 today, increase sales and strengthen our local presence in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland," he says.
The local work in the foreign markets is a cornerstone of growth.
Our country managers will be important in that development. They will help us build local networks of brands and corporate customers, while maintaining a common Nordic platform and positioning," says John Waldemarsson.
To facilitate public procurement, the company is now building a new function directly into the platform.
We continue to develop our B2B offering. An important part is our tender function, where companies and public organizations can publish needs or upcoming procurements even if they do not yet have a fully finished product specification. Relevant brands can then suggest circular solutions and choose whether to submit a bid.
In addition to this, they are working to compile data on the environmental impact of products.
In parallel, we continue to work on our sustainability calculator. It should structure and clarify information about, among other things, materials, recycled content and circular properties. The ambition is that the information will be useful both in purchasing decisions and in companies' sustainability work.
But to take the step to the next level, capital is required. Therefore, they are now planning an investment round and setting clear goals.
Financially, our first goal is to prove a scalable model with recurring sales, growing sales value and concrete B2B deals," says John Waldemarsson and concludes:
Our current three-year plan has a goal of approximately SEK 258 million in annual sales value through the platform in year three. We are also preparing a capital round of SEK 5 million to expand the team, marketing and B2B offering and take the company towards profitability. The goal is not just to sell more circular products, but to create the digital infrastructure that makes circular purchases easier, more verifiable and more scalable.