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Portfolio company case study: Trove

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At a glance

Brisbane, CA

City, State

2012                                

Year founded

29 July 2021

Investment date

Molly Breiner

Deal lead

Enterprise solutions        

Sector

Series D Preferred Stock

Series invested

Company overview

trove-logotype_244x120

Trove is a market leader in branded recommerce, providing white-label software and end-to-end operations to brands in the retail, apparel, outdoor, and luxury segments. Trove enables premium brands to intake, aggregate, and authenticate preowned versions of their goods and then resell them to consumers.

Investment thesis

Given their tech-enabled supply-chain capabilities, leading customers, and revenue growth, we believe Trove is positioned to be a dominant player in the still-new online resale market, which has grown from US$7B to US$18B from 2018 to 2021. US online resales are estimated to grow further at a 25% CAGR over the next eight years.1

Climate materiality

Reduction in GHG emissions: Clothing production accounts for up to 10% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions globally. In the US, 15 million tons of textiles are produced annually, with 85% ending up in a landfill. By enabling companies to drive a “circular economy” at scale, Trove will reduce GHG emissions caused by apparel consumption. Data indicates a used purchase replaces a new purchase 60% of the time, enabling material emissions reductions.2

The case study presented is for illustrative purposes only to show how Wellington engages with private company founders and management teams. The private climate team makes investments in other companies with different characteristics and the full list can be found here.

Partnering with Wellington helps us deliver on our mission to enable a circular economy in retail through their resources and expertise in climate impact management and ESG integration.

Gayle Tait
CEO, Trove
Gayle Tait

The statement and opinion presented above is an endorsement provided by Gayle Tait, CEO of Trove, a portfolio company in which a Wellington-advised client invests. She is not an investor in private funds managed by Wellington Management. Wellington Management has not provided any cash or non-cash compensation for the use of this statement. The ownership structure of portfolio company investments creates a conflict of interest since Senior Executives have an incentive to make positive statements about Wellington and their experiences to maintain goodwill. This statement describes Tait’s experience with Wellington Management and/or its supervised persons and may not be representative of the experience of others.

Molly Breiner

Trove’s unique technology solution is helping resale grow at a significantly faster rate than the rest of retail.  We chose to partner with Trove given their market leadership, differentiated technology, and world-class brand partnerships.

Molly Breiner
Wellington Sector Lead, Private Climate Investing (Sector focus: Food & Agriculture)

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