To the Market
Year founded: 2016
Number of employees: N/A
Founder: Jane Mosbacher Morris, CEO
Amount of capital raised: Recently raised $5 million
Notable investors: Curate Capital, Working Capital Fund, Farfetch (Nyse: FTCH), Techstars
Explain what your company does: To the Market is on a mission to harness global purchasing power for good. To the Market (TTM) leverages their proprietary technology platform to provide a turnkey solution for ethical and sustainable retail manufacturing, connecting companies to a syndicated network of ethical and sustainable suppliers vetted through TTM’s proprietary TRACE system. To the Market is a Certified B Corporation, as well as a certified women-owned business. The company was founded by Jane Mosbacher Morris, author of "Buy the Change You Want to See: Use Your Purchasing Power for Good" (Penguin Random House, 2019). Fortune Magazine named Jane one of 2020’s World’s Greatest Leaders for To the Market’s swift pivot to manufacturing PPE for healthcare workers.
What are some major milestones in the company’s history?
- Major retail clients: We’re proud to have worked with a range of incredible businesses. Clients include, but are not limited to; Bloomingdale’s, Burlington, FabFitFun, Francesca’s, Free People, Madewell, Nordstrom, Target and TJ Maxx.
- Expanded supplier network: We’ve expanded our supplier network to over 250 makers in more than 50 countries. This is an important milestone for us as a key piece of our mission is empowering underrepresented makers and artisans from around the world. Additionally, this increase in breadth of production capabilities and talent allows us to manufacture virtually limitless types of product, designs and styles — customized to clients needs!
- B Corp certification: In 2021, we became a Certified B Corporation! With only a small percentage of corporations that apply passing the rigorous B Corp assessment standards, certification is an important achievement. We have joined nearly 4,000 B Corporations in 150 industries across 74 countries, all dedicated to using the power of business for good. It underscores our vision of democratizing access to the global supply chain and providing makers around the world with the economic empowerment that comes from safe, dignified, fairly paid work. To the Market is proud of this major step as we continue to change the future of retail manufacturing in a way that is better for people and for the planet.
- Women-owned and operated: In 2021, To the Market became certified as a Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE) through the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), the largest third party certifier of businesses owned and operated by women in the U.S. With only a small percentage of contracts going to women-owned businesses, we are proud to add value to our clients through our ethical and sustainability supply chain.
What is your company working on right now?
The backend technology we're building provides visibility into supplier vetting; product sourcing; and production transparency. This transparency is extended to our clients and suppliers via their own portal. Additionally, we capture and provide assets to assist our clients in storytelling. This includes impact metrics, photos, and videos of the makers.
What’s on the horizon for your company in 2022?
Further developing our technology platform will allow us to create more opportunities for our TRACE-approved makers to produce for enterprise clients and generate unprecedented visibility across the supply chain.
Why grow your company from Kentucky?
Kentucky is located in the main artery of America’s supply chain. With powerful operations and logistics infrastructure located across the state, in addition to a world class research institution like the University of Kentucky, To the Market is well situated to build on Kentucky’s long history of manufacturing innovation.
