Social Cooperative Together

What Social Cooperative Together does

Insieme - società cooperativa sociale a r.l. (Social Cooperative Together) is a privately held Italian social cooperative founded in 1979 and headquartered in Vicenza, Veneto. It operates a multi-line circular-economy and work-integration platform spanning second-hand retail (Mercatopoli and Oltre Mercato stores), textile waste management and upcycling (Tessuto Sociale / New Is Over with Consorzio Prisma), residential and commercial clearing services (sgomberi), and a restaurant (Insieme Caffè). The cooperative's stated mission is to combine environmental sustainability with the labor-market reintegration of disadvantaged workers, supported by structured pathways through Servizio Civile Universale and European Solidarity Corps programs.

The core operational asset is the Smart Reuse Park, developed under the EU SURFACE project and described as the first Italian facility dedicated to preparation for reuse of discarded goods. The cooperative runs a circular-textile partnership with sports retailer Sportler (the RE3 model), a goods-recovery collaboration with Croce Bianca (the REUSE project), and participates in Intesa Sanpaolo's Programma Formula accelerator for social enterprises. Revenue is generated through a combination of consumer retail sales, B2B contracts for reuse and textile services, public-sector welfare and reintegration funding, and program grants. The organization is governed as a cooperative owned by its members, with no external private-equity or venture capital shareholders.

The cooperative employs between 101 and 250 people, deploys volunteers and EU Solidarity Corps participants, and integrates disadvantaged workers into its operational lines. No revenue, ARR, or financial figures are disclosed in available sources.

Name

Social Cooperative Together

Legal name

Insieme - società cooperativa sociale a r.l.

Website

https://insiemesociale.it

Company type

Private

Founded year

1979

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Insieme is a Vicenza-based Italian social cooperative operating circular-economy services—including second-hand retail, textile reuse and upcycling, clearing services, and a restaurant—while running work-integration programs for disadvantaged workers in Veneto.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Second-hand Retail and Circular Economy Services

NAICS

Reupholstery and Furniture Repair (81142), Other Personal and Household Goods Repair and Maintenance (81149), Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars (722515), Personal and Household Goods Repair and Maintenance (8114)

SIC

Sanitary Services (4950), Retail-Family Clothing Stores (5651), Services-Social Services (8300), Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Circular Economy & Sustainable Products (Reuse, Repair, Upcycling) (BPAGALAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Reuse & Resale / Recommerce Operations (EUAIANAC)

Keywords

• Second-hand retail
• Textile waste management
• Circular economy services
• Upcycled fashion
• Social cooperative enterprise

Headquarters

HQ city

Vicenza

HQ country

Italy

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Retail Sales of Second-Hand Goods: Sale of used clothing, furniture, household items, books, appliances, vintage goods, and children's toys through physical stores and online platforms (shop.insiemesociale.it, Depop). Comprises approximately 60% of recovered goods — 20% retail, 30% wholesale, 10% as fabric remnants plus New Is Over upcycled items.
2. Clearing and Removal Services: Free-quotation clearing services for domestic (apartments, attics, cellars) and corporate clients, including management of special waste for small and medium industries, public entities, and professional studios.
3. Waste Management & Environmental Services: Collection and management of textile waste, operation of municipal ecocentri, and authorized environmental waste processing services under ordinary authorization regimes.
4. Upcycled Fashion & Artisanal Products: Sale of upcycled garments through the New Is Over brand, showrooms, events, and fashion shows. Supported by Fondazione Panciera and participated in the Intesa Sanpaolo Programma Formula with Fondazione CESVI.
5. Catering & Hospitality (Al Barco): Bar and restaurant operation offering vegetarian and vegan breakfasts, snacks, and lunches at the Al Barco venue, with takeaway and reservation services.
6. Furniture Consulting & Event Styling: Interior design consulting for shop windows, photo shoots, weddings, events, homes, apartments, offices, and venues using second-hand furniture and décor.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Social Cooperative Together (Insieme) operates a circular-economy social enterprise that retails second-hand goods (clothing, furniture, household items, books, vintage), runs the New Is Over upcycling atelier, manages textile and special-waste collection/processing for businesses, provides domestic and corporate clearing services, operates the Al Barco vegetarian/vegan bar-restaurant, and runs the Smart Reuse Park preparation-for-reuse facility. All operations double as work-integration pathways for vulnerable people.

Product overview

Social Cooperative Insieme operates as a multi-service social enterprise (cooperativa sociale a r.l. / ETS) focused on circular economy and social inclusion. The organization runs second-hand retail stores under the Tessuto Sociale ethical brand, offers textile waste management and clearance services, manages ecocentri, and provides social programs including Universal Civil Service and European Solidarity Corps. The portfolio includes the New Is Over upcycling atelier, the Smart Reuse Park preparation facility, the RE3 circular model with retail partners, furniture restoration consulting, and Al Barco café/restaurant. These services are unified by a mission to transform waste into social value through 600+ people served annually in work integration programs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Tessuto Sociale: A brand created by Consorzio Prisma and member cooperatives including Insieme, providing ethical and circular supply chain certified clothing items sold in Insieme stores, guaranteeing ethical and responsible sourcing.
• New Is Over
• Al Barco

Products and services

• Second-hand Retail Stores (Negozi Second-Hand) Physical retail and wholesale stores offering second-hand clothing, furniture, household items, books, appliances, vintage items, and children's toys across Vicenza and Arzignano; supplemented by an online Shopify shop and Depop profile.
• New Is Over Upcycled Fashion Artisanal upcycled garments and fashion items produced from discarded or unused textiles, sold through showrooms, events, and fashion shows under the New Is Over label.
• Domestic and Corporate Clearing Services (Sgomberi) Free-quotation clearing and removal services for households (apartments, attics, cellars) and corporate clients, including special-waste handling for small/medium industries and professional studios.
• Textile Waste Management Services Authorized collection, transport, temporary storage, and processing of textile and special waste for small and medium industries, public entities, and professional studios under ordinary authorization regimes.
• Ecocenter Management Management and operation of municipal ecocenters for waste collection and sorting services on behalf of local authorities.
• Al Barco Bar and Restaurant Vegetarian and vegan café and catering service offering breakfasts, snacks, and lunches at Via Dalla Scola 255, Vicenza, with daily menu and reservation option (389 19 42 863).
• Furniture Consulting and Event Styling (Consulenze d'Arredo e Allestimenti) Interior design consulting and event styling for window displays, photo shoots, weddings, events, homes, offices, and commercial venues using second-hand furniture and décor.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 600 people served through social and environmental projects over more than 30 years
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• SeayminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Seay, a sustainable beachwear startup, works with Insieme to sanitize and resell returned garments in Insieme's second-hand stores or donate to people in difficulty. Returned items not resold are processed by Eurotexfilati for regeneration into new textile yarn.
• SURFACE Interreg Central Europe Partners (9 additional partners)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017The SURFACE Interreg Central Europe project, launched July 1, 2017, involves Insieme and 9 other partners across Central Europe to promote reuse and circular economy practices, including the development of the Smart Reuse Park as a flagship pilot action.
• RREUSEcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRREUSE is the European reuse network to which Insieme has been a member since the organization's founding in 2001. The network champions the development and support of social enterprises in circular economy, reuse, repair, and recycling, working to strengthen political frameworks for social enterprises and bridge social, economic, and environmental policies.
• Consorzio PrismacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerConsorzio Prisma is the consortium of which Insieme is a member, and together they created the Tessuto Sociale brand to provide a common identity and quality guarantee for ethical and circular textile products across all member cooperatives.
• Siggi GroupminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSiggi Group collaborates with Insieme on upcycling projects transforming old uniforms from Bolzano-based Landesrettungsverein Weißes Kreuz into new products. Insieme handles debranding and processing while Siggi Group contributes design and production capacity for new goods.
• SportlerminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSportler stores in Bolzano and Treviso implement the RE3 (Reuse, Regenerate, Resell) circular economy model developed by Insieme, managing returned/used clothing through resale, upcycling, and material regeneration streams.
• Croce Bianca (Provincial Association of First Aid)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe REUSE project involves Croce Bianca donating old uniforms (2,500kg), Siggi Group supporting product design, and Insieme managing the full circular processing chain — debranding, upcycling, recycling, and energy recovery — employing fragile workers throughout.
• Intesa Sanpaolo / Fondazione CESVI (Programma Formula)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInsieme was selected to participate in the Programma Formula of Intesa Sanpaolo in collaboration with Fondazione CESVI, supporting the 'Trame' project for sustainable fashion.
• UNICOMONDOminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUNICOMONDO organized the 'Da dove vieni? Il viaggio di una maglietta' event where Insieme shared its New Is Over upcycling experience and participated in a swap party alongside Fair Trade textile storytelling.
• Cooperativa TangramcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCooperativa Tangram and Insieme collaborate on Servizio Civile Universale projects and the 'Progetto sulla Soglia' network, sharing civil service volunteers and joint youth programming in the Vicenza area.
• Alto Vicentino Ambiente (AVA)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCooperativa Insieme collaborates with AVA, the environmental utility for the Alto Vicentino area, including participation in the DifferenziAva app project for waste sorting guidance and ecocentro management services.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Depop: Resale marketplace where Insieme already operates a storefront (depop.com/cooperativainsieme). Comparable as a channel partner and indirect competitor for vintage/second-hand fashion sales.
• Vinted: Major European peer-to-peer resale platform for second-hand clothing. Competes with Insieme's online shop and Depop channel for value-conscious fashion consumers across Europe.
• I:CO (I:Collect): Global textile recycling and reuse operator serving major fashion brands. Comparable as an industrial-scale garment collection and reuse partner, but operates at much larger scale and focuses on B2B take-back rather than retail.

Regional players

• Banco Alimentare: Italian non-profit food bank network. Comparable as a Third Sector organization operating in resource recovery and redistribution within Italy, though focused on food rather than textiles.
• Renée Verde: Italian social cooperative network active in textile reuse and work integration, with similar dual mission of social inclusion and circular economy. Regional operator comparable to Insieme in operating model and customer segments.

Emerging players

• Too Good To Go: Surplus food marketplace active across Europe. Adjacent peer in the circular economy / waste reduction space; comparable in mission (reducing waste, social impact) but operates a different model (food, app-based surplus marketplace).

Direct peers

• Humana People to People Italia: Italian arm of the global Humana network, operates second-hand clothing collection and retail across Italy with thousands of collection points. Most direct competitor to Insieme's store-based textile reuse model in the Italian market.
• Banco del Riuso / Caritas Second-Hand: Caritas-affiliated second-hand outlets and reuse programs across Italy. Closely comparable as faith/social-economy second-hand retail with parallel work-integration missions, competing for the same Vicenza-area consumer base.
• Consorzio Prisma: Consortium of Italian social cooperatives that owns the Tessuto Sociale ethical clothing brand, of which Insieme is a member. Direct partner/peer since Tessuto Sociale is a co-created brand distributed across member cooperatives like Insieme.

Others

• RREUSE: European network of social enterprises active in reuse, repair, and recycling — Insieme has been a member since 2001. Not a competitor but the closest peer ecosystem for benchmarking operational models and accessing EU funding.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/coopinsieme
• Instagraminstagram.com/cooperativainsieme

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Social Cooperative Together