Jackie de la Parte had no intention of launching her own tech startup when she first opened Trendful, an online resale site, in 2019. But after she and her co-founder, Mailys Rabot, built their own technology to help streamline their resale process, they decided to pivot their company entirely.
"There weren’t any recommerce tools out there, so we created the software for ourselves," de la Parte said. "We integrated it into our own store and then decided instead of using it just for us, it would be much more effective to pivot. And oftentimes when we speak to our clients, they say they've been searching for this technology for years."
While the name is the same, Trendful is now a B2B, software as a service startup allowing resale companies to start, run and scale their businesses. They currently have a specific focus on luxury handbags, allowing users to sell their bag in a streamlined fashion.
"With [our technology], it creates so much less friction between all the steps they have to do," de la Parte said. "Shipping is automated, there's an instant pricing app. So, a lot of the automation helps the customer be able to sell faster."
The company has six clients, many of which have multiple locations. In November 2021 alone, Trendful helped facilitate $750,000 worth of sales.
De la Parte plans to soon add watches to Trendful's lineup, and eventually expand beyond luxury goods.
"Our goal is to be able to go into electronics or other verticals, so it's not just handbags, since that's not the only thing people are re-selling," she said. "The goal is to have more clients and larger clients. If we were to work with a larger client — it could work for eBay or partnering with another large company, so they can really build their own solution if they want."
The co-founders have also caught the attention of Minneapolis-based TinySeed, a national accelerator program specifically focused on B2B SaaS companies. Unlike other accelerator programs, TinySeed spans a full year. With that, comes a $200,000 investment.
Beyond the TinySeed funding, the company is entirely bootstrapped and has three employees, plus a development team. While de la Parte and Rabot are in Tampa and St. Petersburg, respectively, the company is entirely remote. However, de la Parte, a born and raised Tampanian, returned to the city from Washington D.C. when the pandemic hit. She believes the city's overall growth is promising for her own next venture.
"Tampa is so different than what it was when I was in high school," she said. "I think a lot of founders are seeing the benefit of moving to Tampa, and it seems like it's a good place to grow."
