Serena Williams' fund leads $3M seed round in presale fashion app Trace
What's the deal? Serena Ventures, the venture firm run by tennis champion Serena Williams, led a $3 million seed round in Trace, a presale shopping app that launched Thursday. ShaktiDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → VC also joined the round.
How the app works: Trace reverses the usual order of resale. A shopper pastes a product link into the app, and AI builds a listing in under 10 seconds; other users can then "call" the item, offering to rent or buy it at a set price and date before the original shopper buys it new.
The caller is charged once the lister accepts the offer. The founders argue demand for fashion peaks when a piece is new or in season — a moment that has often passed by the time items reach traditional resale sites.
Who's behind it? Co-founders Katie Pfleger and Ella Rubin are Harvard Business School graduates. Pfleger previously worked at Etsy, while Rubin helped launch Walmart's online grocery business.
Why Serena Ventures? Williams, managing partner of the firm, cited the market size, the company's approach, and its founders. "Trace is transforming the way people shop," she told WWD, adding that Pfleger and Rubin "have the experience and grit to make this vision a reality."
The firm found the startup after the founders pitched Trace during a Harvard visit by social media personality Alix Earle, who featured it in a TikTok video that went viral.
By the numbers: During a beta test, fewer than 300 users listed over 500 items, and 32% of users listed something when they signed up. Seven in 10 calls were for rentals.
Trace charges buyers a 10% service fee plus a $3 protection fee on purchase calls. Rental calls carry a 10% service fee and a protection fee of $5 to $12 depending on value, with listers paying a 15% commission.
The signal: Serena Ventures, which closed a $111 million inaugural fund in 2022 and has backed MasterClass, Tonal, and Impossible Foods, is betting that fashion resale works better when demand comes first — a reversal of the model used by established rental and secondhand marketplaces.
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