Trendsi, a company that links merchants with suppliers while also managing the back-end supply chain for its customers. Trendsi has received a $25 million Series A investment, bringing its total capital raised to $30 million, after gaining steam during the pandemic as many retail organizations made the risk-reducing switch to selling goods directly to retail rather than buying inventory.
The round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from Basis Set Ventures, Footwork VC, Peterson Ventures, Sierra Ventures, Liquid 2 Ventures, and individual investors such as Zoom CEO Eric Yuan and Zola CEO Shan-Lyn Ma. According to Zhang, the new funds will be used to invest in data infrastructure, supply chain technology, new merchandise categories, and international expansion.
Founded in 2020, Trendsi is an online fashion B2B marketplace that makes it easy for sellers to build their businesses by providing wholesale inventory.
Trendsi has introduced “just-in-time” manufacturing, which promises to assist manufacturers in fast restocking based on real-time sales data and predictions.
Trendsi, headquartered in San Francisco, now has 105 full-time employees and plans to hire 15 more by the end of the year.
Not all retailers are jumping on board the AI bandwagon. According to a KPMG survey, nearly half of respondents listed cybersecurity breaches and potential bias as their top concerns about the technology, while 75% felt AI is more “of hype than reality.”
