Serena Williams' Venture Firm Leads $3M Seed Round in Trace, a Presale Fashion App Launched in New York

Serena Williams' venture firm has led a $3 million seed round in Trace, a new fashion marketplace that lets shoppers line up a buyer or renter for a piece of clothing before they buy it themselves. Shakti VC also joined the round, according to fashion trade publication WWD, which first reported the deal.

Trace launched publicly on October 15, 2026, with a three-day pop-up at Shopify's SoHo space in New York. It is available as a mobile web app and as a native app.

Who Founded Trace

Trace was founded by Katie Pfleger, its CEO, and Ella Rubin, who met at Harvard Business School. Pfleger previously worked at Etsy, and Rubin was part of the team that launched Walmart's online grocery business. Both have said the idea came from their own shopping habits: buying pieces they loved, wearing them a few times, and never getting around to reselling them.

How the Presale Model Works

Most resale and rental platforms start with clothes people already own and then look for demand. Trace flips that order. A shopper pastes a product link into the app, and AI pulls in the item details to build a listing in seconds, before the shopper has bought anything.

Other users can then "call" the item to rent it or buy it later. Each call lowers the original lister's effective cost, so the more interest a piece draws, the cheaper it gets for the person who buys it first. The founders' argument is that fashion demand peaks when an item is new, in season or just worn by a creator, and that by the time it reaches a traditional resale site the moment has often passed.

As reported by WWD, buyers pay a 10% service fee plus a $3 buyer protection fee, renters pay a 10% service fee plus a $5 to $12 protection fee, and listers pay a 15% commission. Trace currently has no retail partnerships, though the founders have said a business-to-business offering is on the roadmap.

Why Serena Ventures Backed It

Williams told WWD the firm invested because of the size of the market, Trace's approach and its founders, and she called the company a change in how people shop. The firm, which Williams co-manages with general partner Beth Ferreira, now also operates under the name Starfire Ventures. It has built a portfolio across consumer, health and technology companies, with a focus on founders who have historically been overlooked by venture capital.

The firm found Trace during its fundraise after the founders pitched the app at a Harvard Business School event with creator Alix Earle, who later featured it in a TikTok video that went viral, according to WWD.

What Comes Next

Trace has not shared user numbers, transaction volume or revenue, and has not said exactly how it will spend the new capital. With the app now live, the seed round gives the company room to grow its marketplace and test whether presale can change how often shoppers buy, wear and pass on their clothes.

Why It Matters

Resale is one of the fastest-growing corners of fashion, but most platforms only enter the picture after a purchase. Trace is betting that shoppers will commit to more purchases if they know someone is already waiting to take the item off their hands. If that works, it could change who pays full price for in-demand fashion, and how much they pay.

Source

AfroTech — "Serena Ventures Leads $3M Seed Round For Presale Marketplace"