Serena Williams’ investment firm, Serena Ventures, has led a $3 million seed funding round for Trace, a new presale fashion marketplace. Trace is a mobile web and native app founded by Katie Pfleger, a former Etsy executive, and Ella Rubin, who helped launch Walmart Online Grocery. Both founders are Harvard Business School alumni. The platform is designed to revolutionize fashion shopping by enabling users to list items for presale before buying, allowing others to express interest in renting or owning the same piece and share costs, which reduces financial commitment for buyers.

Trace incorporates AI to streamline the listing process by extracting product details when users paste a product link into the app, creating listings in seconds. Buyers, sellers, and renters each incur specific service and protection fees, with sellers benefiting from no commissions on sales to buyers but paying a commission on rentals. This presale model addresses a gap in traditional resale markets, which usually focus on pre-owned items after peak demand, whereas Trace targets demand when items are new and most desirable, often driven by trends or creator influence.

Serena Williams highlighted her confidence in Trace's innovative approach to reshaping shopping habits, emphasizing the company's potential to make resale easier and more accessible. Serena Ventures’ backing reflects strong belief in the market opportunity and the founders’ vision of fostering lowered purchase commitments through collective interest in fashion pieces. The $3 million injection backs Trace’s product launch and growth efforts, with additional investment from Shakti VC.

This investment underscores Serena Ventures’ continued focus on disruptive startups in the fashion and tech spaces, supporting entrepreneurs who bring fresh ideas to traditional markets. Trace’s model harnesses technology and social demand dynamics to create a shared economy approach for fashion consumers. The strategic funding marks a step forward for Trace as it scales and challenges how people engage with style and ownership in the digital age.