Locked
Discussion interactions are currently paused.
Celebrating refugee entrepreneurs on eBay this Refugee Week
Summary: dave@ebay highlights eBay's partnership with The Entrepreneurial Refugee Network (TERN) during Refugee Week, showcasing refugee entrepreneurs who have built businesses through eBay since 2021. Over 100 entrepreneurs in the UK have benefited from the partnership, receiving training and access to the eBay marketplace. Stories of Lavrentii, Mitra, Ehsan, and Ahmed demonstrate resilience and success in building businesses like TARRARI Antiques, Tech Cell, and Novella Hats, creating economic opportunities and communities for refugees in the UK. eBay continues to support refugee entrepreneurs, emphasizing the importance of courage and starting with determination.
At eBay, we believe in creating economic opportunity for everyone. This Refugee Week, we’re celebrating our partnership with The Entrepreneurial Refugee Network (TERN), and the refugee entrepreneurs who are building businesses as part of the wider eBay seller community.
Since launching our partnership with TERN in 2021, we’ve supported over 100 entrepreneurs across the UK. Through training, practical support and access to the eBay marketplace, these entrepreneurs have been able to turn ideas, skills and ambition into growing businesses.
Building businesses and community
To mark Refugee Week, we’re spotlighting three of our TERN refugee entrepreneurs who are building their businesses on eBay.
Celebrating Inspirational Refugee Entrepreneurs with TERN | Refugee Week 2026
Hear their seller stories, what entrepreneurship means to them and how selling on eBay has helped them reach customers and build new opportunities.
Like all our sellers, they bring creativity, experience and determination to eBay. Their stories reflect what makes our seller community so powerful: people using their skills, ideas and resilience to build businesses that work for their lives.
Lavrentii, founder of TARRARI Antiques, left Ukraine with his family on the first day of the full-scale war in 2022 and arrived in the UK through the Homes for Ukraine scheme. A lifelong antiques dealer and former auction house owner in Kyiv, he rebuilt his business from a small wooden shed beside his new home, selling antiques and collectables on eBay. With support from TERN, an eBay Up & Running Grant and eBay AI Activate, Lavrentii has expanded into a dedicated workspace and employed another Ukrainian refugee, helping create opportunities for others rebuilding their lives in the UK.
Before leaving Iran, Mitra and Ehsan were both engineers, and they have creatively reapplied those skills, experience and determination to build their eBay business. Through TERN and eBay, they built Tech Cell from the refurbishing and resale of a single iPhone into a growing business that has now sold more than 15,000 products on eBay. For Mitra, courage means to “never give up”, with finding a solution always the core focus.
Like Lavrentii, Mitra and Ehsan, Novella Hats founder Ahmed sought refuge in the UK and has channelled his skills, dedication and resilience into building a growing business on eBay. With support from TERN and eBay, including an Up & Running Grant, Ahmed has been able to grow his business, building a large, international customer base in just two years on eBay. His advice for other prospective refugee entrepreneurs is simple: “You just need to start and put your heart into it and have the courage.”
Continuing our work with TERN
Refugee Week is an important moment to recognise the courage and contribution of refugees, and to celebrate the entrepreneurs building businesses and communities on eBay with support from TERN.
We’re proud to continue working with TERN to support refugee entrepreneurs across the UK, helping more people access the tools, training and marketplace they need to start, grow and sustain their businesses.
Thank you for being part of the eBay community and selling on eBay.
