ThredUp IPO raises $168 million, shares jump 30% in market debut

By

Robin Driver

Published
Mar 30, 2021

Oakland, California-based online fashion resale platform ThredUp raised $168 million with its initial public offering (IPO) on Thursday, achieving a valuation of approximately $1.3 billion.

 
The company sold 12 million shares at $14 apiece, which represented the upper end of its previously reported range of $12 to $14 per share.
 
According to ThredUp founder and CEO James Reinhart, the company plans to use the proceeds from its IPO to expand, with the addition of new product categories on the horizon. The second-hand retailer is also intending to increase investments in its operating platform and technology.

The IPO is “just another validation of the market opportunity, and ThredUp plays in the biggest, fattest part of the market at our price point,” said Reinhart in an interview cited by The Wall Street Journal on Friday.
 
And investors would certainly seem to agree, as ThredUp shares began trading at $18.25 on Friday, up 30% from their initial listing price.
 
Online resale platforms have been on the rise since before the Covid-19 pandemic, with Global Data having predicted in 2020 that the second-hand market could be worth $64 billion by 2025. But the sector has also proved to be relatively resistant to the worst economic impacts of the coronavirus crisis. Indeed, ThredUp previously claimed that it has maintained 20% growth since shelter-in-place orders were first implemented.
 
With its IPO, the company follows in the footsteps of resale rivals Poshmark and The RealReal. Poshmark made its Wall Street debut in January, seeing its shares more than double in value on its first day of trading and achieving a market capitalization of over $7 billion. It is worth noting, however, that the company’s stock has now dropped around two-thirds of its value.
 
The RealReal has been public since 2019 and has maintained a fairly stable market capitalization of $2 billion since then.
 
Founded in 2009, ThredUp achieved revenues of $186 million in 2020, up 14% year over year, according to a SEC filing made by the company. The platform’s annual loss was $48 million, compared to a loss of $38 million in the previous year.