Today, I am truly thrilled to congratulate James Reinhart, Anthony Marino, Chris Homer and the entire thredUP team as they officially enter life as a public company.

Inspired by the unworn clothing in his family's closet, CEO and co-founder James Reinhart came up with the thredUP idea in 2008 and started the business a year later as a way to unlock value from secondhand apparel. This goes to show two things: first, it takes time to build a large and defensible business. And second, from that one thread of a consumer insight (pun intended), thredUP has helped make the resale of secondhand apparel a big thing (more than 100M unique items processed since founding.) Along the way, they have also become a powerhouse in resale supply chain logistics and a champion for reduced environmental impact in fashion, one of the most environmentally damaging sectors in the global economy.

I have long believed in the untapped power and even desire of consumers to drive market-wide shifts in enviromental and sustainability practives, as long as you give them a terrific, high-value alternative (Call it C-ESG). And thredUP has been a great example of driving change through delivering consistent customer value. There will be much more of this theme from me in the near future.

Since day one, thredUP has been laser focused on constant innovation and value creation for their buyers and sellers, whether through a more delightful buyer experience via goody boxes or stores-in-stores) or simply an easier buyer and seller process through the unglamourous but incredibly important automation and warehouse logistics optimization. Add in the challenging dynamics of a marketplace processing individual SKUs at scale and, well, it is pretty damn impressive.

thredUP also walks the walk in their "think secondhand first" mission not just in their own branded experiences but also by enabling "resale as a service" for brands like Walmart and GAP, in order to reduce the environmental impact of apparel. The company estimates that 1 billion lbs of CO2e have been displaced since founding by empowering consumers to buy and sell secondhand.

Today's IPO is just the beginning of the impact this company can create for shoppers and for the planet. Since our first investment back in 2014 (we have actually led two of thredUP's financing rounds), all of us at Upfront have been thrilled to support James and the company on their mission to convince all shoppers to think secondhand first and make global change. And as an investor and board member, I couldn't be more grateful to have been part of the journey so far - and I look forward to what is ahead. Please join us in congratulating thredUP.