Depop, a London-based social shopping app, has raised $8m (£5.3m) from Balderdon Capital and Holtzbrinck Ventures and is due to open its first US office.

The US operation will be headed by Erick Martin, one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World 2012 and the man who oversaw Reddit’s growth hit more six billion page views a month. 

The app has proven incredibly popular – with 1.8 million downloads last year – and currently sees over a million new products added for sale each month.

Founded by Italian Simon Beckerman in 2011, the app was originally launched on iOS devices before an Android version was released slightly later.

The app is free to download, with sellers simply taking a photograph of the product they wish to sell, uploading it to their profile, and seeing whether they’re any takers.

The app is incredibly easy to use, and follows some of the same basic formatting rules as Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest.

This intuitive interface – which includes the ability to “follow” and “favourite” – enables users to begin using the app competently as soon as they’ve downloaded it.

Simon cites the fact that “everyone has cupboards, rooms, even garages full of things they don’t want anymore” as the main influence behind Depop.

With this in mind, the app can be seen as an attempt to reintroduce lost products into the marketplace in a fun and social way.

The move to the US, where the company will establish a New York office, is something the company have always sought to do, and means that all the treasures tucked away in American garages, rooms, and cupboards will too have their chance to be loved once more.

So, with the formidable combination of a great product and a tremendously skilled leader, we may be about to hear a lot more about this app. Will Depop conquer America? Email us your thoughts.