The Vinted phenomenon: how one woman sold her clothes – and created a billion-dollar company

In 2008, Milda Mitkute and a friend set up a website to clear out her closet. It soon grew exponentially. Now Vinted has 16 million UK users and is the first Lithuanian unicorn'. Can it make secondhand our first choice?

When is a jumble sale also a billion-euro tech startup? When it has 500m items for sale and 105 million users.

I am in Vilnius, Lithuania, at the headquarters of Vinted, the slick, easy-to-use app where users can buy and sell secondhand clothes, shoes and gadgets. If you haven't used Vinted yet, you certainly know someone who has. In the UK, it has an astonishing 16 million users - nearly one-quarter of the population - and is taking on more established rivals, including Depop and eBay.