(Yicai Global) April 30 -- Chinese second-hand sneaker trading app Poizon run by Shanghai Shizhuang Trading, has completed its latest funding round from Russian internet investor Digital Sky Technologies.

The platform's market value has now reached USD1 billion to usher it into the ranks of unicorns, Chinese TechCrunch-style media 36Kr reported, citing an insider.

The actual amount of the financing, DST's shareholding ratio and the purpose of the funding were unclear, but the platform is trying to extend its lineup to multi-category fashion from trainers alone. It opened trading sections for clothes, watches and digital products at the end of last year, but their current volume still cannot keep pace with sports shoes, 36Kr noted. 

The secondary sneaker market has resulted from unbalanced supply-and-demand relationship, 36Kr said.

Only a designated quantity of limited editions of famous brands sell at certain shops, so ordinary customers can only with great difficulty get their hands on the new sneakers they desire, 36Kr added. Scalpers resort to a variety of dodges to buy up shoes, then resell them at exorbitant markups. The size of the global second-hand sneaker market may already have reached USD6 billion, fashion media outlet Highsnobiety reported.

Poizon, originally the sneaker trading sub-forum at the Chinese online sports community Hupu, received tens of millions of dollars in funding to strike off on its own in the last year. The platform charges 7.5 percent to 9.5 percent of a deal's price as commission and CNY5 (USD0.74 cents) as appraisal fee per product for buyers.

The app's monthly active user count has exceeded 1.4 million as of last month, the insider said.

Poizon's monthly Gross Merchandise Volume was close to CNY200 million (USD29.7 million) by the middle of last year, and its annual GMV for last year was between CNY2 billion (USD297 million) and CNY3 billion. Its GMV is projected to grow to between CNY6 billion and CNY7 billion.

GMV in online retailing indicates a total sales dollar value for goods sold on a particular platform over a set period. Site revenue comes from fees on the value of the items sold.

Editor: Ben Armour