What Novelship does

Novelship is a Singapore-headquartered, online consumer marketplace founded in 2018 that enables individuals to buy and sell authenticated sneakers, streetwear apparel, and collectibles across 24 countries in Asia Pacific, EMEA, and the Americas. The platform is built around a 100% Expert Authentication Service — every item is verified by human authenticators before shipment to the buyer — combined with a 30-day return policy, 24/7 customer support, multi-currency settlement, and native iOS/Android applications, addressing the counterfeit risk that has historically constrained secondary sneaker and streetwear markets in the region.

The product surface spans three primary categories (Sneakers across 50+ brands including Nike, Jordan, adidas, New Balance, ASICS, Onitsuka Tiger; Apparel covering tops, outerwear, bottoms, headwear; and Collectibles including Pop Mart, Bearbrick, trading cards, and Casio watches) and is segmented by gender and age (men, women, kids). Supporting features include a release calendar for upcoming drops, trending deals and under-retail curation, and a community lookbook (OOTD). Technology is described as a standard e-commerce marketplace platform; no public API, SDK, or documented AI/ML capability is disclosed.

Novelship generates revenue through marketplace commissions and transaction fees on each completed sale between buyers and sellers; specific take rates are not publicly disclosed. The customer base is a long-tail of individual sneaker enthusiasts, streetwear collectors, and resellers across the 24 supported countries, with no enterprise or B2B anchor accounts. The company has raised approximately $22.4M cumulatively, including a $10M Series A in May 2022 (co-led by East Ventures and GSR Ventures) and a follow-on $10M round in September 2023 (led by East Ventures with GSR Ventures and iGlobe Partners), and reports 51-100 employees.

Name

Novelship

Legal name

Novelship

Website

https://novelship.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Novelship is a Singapore-headquartered online marketplace, founded in 2018, that enables individuals across 24 countries to buy and sell authenticated sneakers, streetwear apparel, and collectibles, monetizing through marketplace commissions on each transaction.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Sneaker & Streetwear Marketplace

NAICS

Shoe Retailers (45821), Sporting Goods, Hobby, Musical Instrument, Book, and Miscellaneous Retailers (459)

SIC

Retail-Shoe Stores (5661)

akta.pro primary industry

Online Collectibles Marketplaces & Auction Retail (CRALAGAO)

Keywords

• Online sneaker marketplace
• Authenticated streetwear resale
• Collectibles trading platform
• Sneaker authentication service
• Streetwear e-commerce marketplace

Headquarters

HQ city

Singapore

HQ country

Singapore

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Marketplace Commission / Transaction Fees: Novelship generates revenue by facilitating transactions between buyers and sellers of sneakers, apparel, and collectibles on its marketplace platform, taking a commission or transaction fee on each completed sale.
2. Seller Services: Platform enables sellers to list and sell authenticated products to buyers globally, with Novelship providing authentication, payment processing, and shipping services.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Novelship operates an online marketplace where individual buyers and sellers transact in authenticated sneakers, streetwear apparel, and collectibles. The platform guarantees 100% expert authentication of every product before shipment, supports multi-currency and multi-language transactions, and ships to more than 24 countries across Asia Pacific, EMEA, and the Americas.

Product overview

Novelship is a Singapore-based online marketplace operating as a single unified platform for sneakers, apparel, and collectibles. The core product is the Novelship Marketplace complemented by a Mobile App providing full marketplace functionality on iOS and Android devices. Key platform features include Authentication Service (expert verification of all products), Trending Deals (discounted trending items), Under Retail (below-retail pricing section), Release Calendar (upcoming product drops), and Lookbook OOTD (user-generated outfit inspiration). Products are organized into three main categories: Sneakers (featuring Nike, Adidas, Jordan, New Balance, ASICS, and 50+ other brands across basketball, running, soccer, tennis, and lifestyle), Apparel (tops, outerwear, bottoms, headwear, jerseys), and Collectibles (Pop Mart, Bearbrick, trading cards, toys). The platform operates across over 20 countries globally including Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, and Vietnam.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Novelship Marketplace

Quantifiable outcome

• Sales grew 5.3x year-over-year as of 2022
• +1 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• StockX: Detroit-based global sneaker and streetwear resale marketplace with authentication; the category leader that Novelship most directly competes with for cross-border sneaker liquidity.
• GOAT: US-based sneaker and streetwear marketplace with strong authentication services; overlaps directly with Novelship on sneakers and apparel and competes for global sellers.
• Grailed: Curated marketplace for streetwear, sneakers, and designer menswear; directly comparable in product mix and target audience of hype-focused buyers and sellers.
• Flight Club: Sneaker consignment retailer with both physical stores and online marketplace; comparable business model around authenticated sneaker resale.
• Depop: Social marketplace for fashion, vintage, and streetwear; overlapping seller base and streetwear/apparel category with Novelship.
• Ox Street: Singapore-based authenticated sneaker and streetwear marketplace; closest regional direct competitor to Novelship in SEA, with similar model and geography.

Broad incumbents

• eBay: General online marketplace with significant sneaker and collectibles categories; competes at the broad marketplace layer rather than specializing in authenticated hype goods.

Emerging players

• KicksOnFire: Sneaker-focused platform combining release info, pricing data, and a marketplace; partial overlap with Novelship's sneaker focus and release calendar feature.

Regional players

• HypeFly: India-based sneaker and streetwear marketplace with authentication; comparable model but focused on the Indian market, providing indirect competition for APAC sellers.
• StockX (regional competitors like KREAM): South Korea-based authenticated sneaker marketplace; comparable model but focused primarily on Korean buyers, representing an APAC competitor with strong regional liquidity.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/novelship
• Facebookfacebook.com/novelship

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds6 records

Investors7 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Novelship