Liz Gannes

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ThredUP Raises $7M for Swapping Kids Clothing

ThredUP, the kids’ clothing exchange site, has raised $7 million in Series B funding from Redpoint Ventures, Trinity Ventures and Brian Swette.

ThredUP works by sending USPS flat-rate boxes out to its members, who fill them with clothes for kids of the same size, gender and season. Then they list them on thredUP for another family to claim, which pays $5 plus $10.95 shipping. The San Francisco-based company says it will soon swap its millionth item.

ThredUP is part of a trend toward what some call “the sharing economy” or “collaborative consumption,” along with other companies like AirBnB and RelayRides.

Here’s the release:

thredUP Adds $7M Series B round to support rapid user growth

San Francisco, CA – thredUP Inc, the nation’s leading online platform for swapping kids clothes, toys and books, today announced that it has completed a series B round of funding, bringing total committed capital to $8.7M. Redpoint Ventures led the round with Trinity Ventures and former eBay CEO Brian Swette participating. Tim Haley of Redpoint Ventures will join Patricia Nakache on the thredUP board.

This new funding comes just one year after thredUP’s launch and significant company milestones. thredUP will swap its millionth item this month and is now adding over 1,000 moms a day.

“We’ve spent the past year building a remarkable swapping experience for moms across the country. thredUP couples the simplicity of traditional hand-me-downs with a massive online network like eBay. We connect strangers in meaningful ways, to share things they no longer need and become better citizens of the planet,” said James Reinhart, CEO at thredUP. “We’re excited to have such a great group of investors on board who share our vision. I think this infusion of capital will help us bring thredUP to the homes of millions of families everywhere. We’ve just scratched the surface of what the peer-to-peer space can become.”

thredUP will use this new funding to expand its development team, refine the core product offering and grow its membership base. The company plans to expand swapping categories such as toys, books and maternity. The team is also exploring international opportunities and loyalty partnerships with major retailers. This funding comes just in time for significant customer acquisition pushes around ‘green’ summer reading and back-to-school campaigns.

thredUP’s swapping platform brings a new level of affordability, convenience and eco-consciousness to a highly fragmented, billion-dollar market. thredUP connects thousands of moms across America to swap gently used children’s goods online. For the first time, parents can exchange boxes of stuff their kids no longer use, for boxes of stuff they actually need – all without leaving the house.

About thredUP
thredUP.com is the brainchild of co-founders James Reinhart, Oliver Lubin, and Chris Homer. Both Reinhart and Homer are recent graduates of the Harvard Business School and all three developed the idea in the Spring of 2009. The company is based in San Francisco, CA and is advised by current Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and former eBay CEO Brian Swette. ­­­­­

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