While we’ve had the chance to be at home more in recent years, you may have redecorated a home office or replaced a sofa. However, once the new item arrived at your home, you may have regretted the buyer or the item did not live up to the website picture.
In any case, that oversized item needs a new home, and Floor found partners with brands and retailers to give that couch to someone who will love it, while avoiding the landfill.
We first came into contact with the Austin-based company and its founder and CEO Chris Richter in 2020 when FloorFound started. The company continued to increase $4 million in seed funding in 2021 and is now back with a $10.5 million Series A funding round.
The round was co-led by Next Coast Ventures and LiveOak Venture Partners with the participation of existing investors Flybridge Capital Partners and Schematic Ventures and new investor Data Point Capital.
Richter told businesstraverse.com that the funding will come as more people are interested in buying retail. The company-sponsored survey conducted in 2021 found that more than 90 percent of US consumers reported buying resale itemswhile research by First Insight and the Wharton School shows that 83% of consumers who bought second hand products are planning to do this againan increase of 17% in 2019.
“The tailwinds that supported our business in 2020 and 2021 have only gotten better, as has consumer confidence around sustainability, so we’ve grown accordingly,” he added.
However, reverse logistics doesn’t work without a plan on how to handle the return and resale of those larger items, and FloorFound makes this process easier through its end-to-end technology platform that enables both the recovery and resale of returned, lightly used and open box items.
In February 2021, the company launched its solution and since then it has more than doubled its recommerce revenue on average every quarter. It also grew its customer base five times, including furniture brands like Inside Weather, Floyd and Burrow. And, Richter noted, FloorFound worked with its clients to keep nearly £450,000 worth of furniture in circulation and out of landfill so far.
FloorFound is the last to raise funds within a US resale industry According to research from Mercari and GlobalData, it is poised to grow by more than 150% in the next decade and is valued at $330 billion. It joins Loveseat, also based in Austin, which raised $7 million in Series A funding in March for its returned goods market. On the fashion front, companies like: To recover announced $17.5 million Series A financing this week.
Meanwhile, FloorFound plans to use the new funding to expand its market presence in the US and move into other vertical stores such as appliances, mattresses and fitness equipment. The company currently has four major third-party logistics partnerships and more than 40 warehouse hubs, a number Richter aims to triple this year.
What sets FloorFound apart from its competitors is the way retailers, who often struggle with effective returns, are putting recommerce at the heart of recommerce, Richter said.
“Retailers will miss out on a revenue opportunity if they don’t participate in re-commerce, but trade-in and repurchase is a leap forward for many of them,” he added. “By focusing on the issue of over-returns, we can help them use that inventory to launch new sales channels.”
