FloorFound - Online Returns & Resale for Furniture Brands

Chris Richter, the founder of the new Austin-based furniture startup FloorFound, estimates that over the coming five years, consumers will send back approximately 40 to 50 million pieces of furniture, a significant portion of which is likely to become landfill waste, resulting in a substantial amount of avoidable refuse.

FloorFound was created to address this waste issue and provide retailers with an alternative solution for handling their returned merchandise. The company specializes in managing furniture returns and facilitating resale for online retailers. Currently, businesses such as Floyd Home, Inside Weather, Outer, and Feather (a furniture rental service) are utilizing FloorFound’s services.

“We’ve been operational since April 1st and have a substantial number of potential clients in our pipeline,” Richter stated. “We are able to arrange for pickup in any major metropolitan area and conduct inspections on-site. Our platform allows us to thoroughly evaluate these items.”

Richter believes that purchasing pre-owned items is a straightforward way for consumers to lessen their impact on the environment, and he anticipates that most brands will begin to integrate both used and new products into their online and physical stores. “We foresee a trend where all brands will offer a mix of new and resale items,” he explained. “Our goal is to enable retailers to participate in the resale market using their existing return inventory.” Richter referenced companies like REI and The Gap, which have collaborated with ThredUp to sell used clothing, as examples of this trend.

In addition to its returns management services, the company offers online sellers a more efficient way to collaborate with local service providers through strategic logistics partnerships with companies including Pilot Freight Services, Metropolitan Warehouse and Delivery, and J.B. Hunt Transport.

Richter has partnered with co-founder Ryan Matthews, formerly the director of technology for the Austin-based luxury retailer Kendra Scott, to establish a business that responds to both the need for improved customer service when returning large items and the increasing demand for sustainability within the furniture sector.

This business model proved compelling enough to secure a pre-seed investment from Schematic Ventures, a venture capital fund exclusively focused on technological advancements in supply chain management.

“The difficulties associated with large-item e-commerce have historically limited this multi-billion-dollar market to brick-and-mortar stores. This is a complex issue, requiring the coordination of a highly fragmented network of smaller carriers, intricate physical processing, and then successful reintegration into an e-commerce system that aligns with the brand’s identity,” explained Julian Counihan, a general partner at Schematic Ventures. “Traditional carriers like UPS and FedEx are not adequately equipped to handle these challenges. FloorFound is addressing this problem with a team uniquely qualified for the task: Chris Richter, Ryan Matthews, and Shannon Hardt bring expertise in supply chain management, delivery, e-commerce, and enterprise software. FloorFound will be instrumental in driving the final shift of remaining offline retail categories online.”