Rónán Ó Dálaigh, Thriftify: “I think we’re going to reach a tipping point that will take our business into the stratosphere.”

Leading the circular economy revolution for charity shops.

Thriftify founders, Rónán Ó Dálaigh and Emily Beere, believe that charity shops can (and should) be the key enabler to the circular economy. Not only do charity shops remain one of the largest recipients of used clothing (they receive nearly 85% of all used fashion)…they sell just 5% of their inventory direct to consumer. Many also haven’t entered the age of ecommerce that would enable them to elevate at scale and tap into the €77bn used fashion market by 2025.

After rallying several ideas between each other, Thriftify was born and it’s now enabling transformative impact for charity retailers. Thriftify has a 98% market share in Ireland where nearly every charity shop has entered a stage of digital transformation that allows them to enjoy both the fruits of this market, all whilst positively impacting the planet! We won’t give everything away, so read on to hear how the team has managed such impressive traction, the impact Thriftify is having across the SDGs and how you can get involved in their ongoing round.

Rónán Ó Dálaigh, Co-Founder & CEO

1. Describe your startup in two sentences

RÓD: We are changing how, and why, the world shops. Using industry leading technology we’re making it possible, for the first time in history, for used goods to become a genuine alternative to the current linear model of purchasing.

2. What gave you the inspiration?

RÓD: I’ve built other business but they were operationally heavy. First and foremost, I wanted to create something that could scale across the entire world and have a transformative impact on the lives of millions of people. Secondly, as an avid environmentalist, I am very passionate about stoping climate chaos. 

3. How did you meet?

We had a warm introduction from a mutual friend who thought we should work together. We had one coffee and the rest is history.

4. What has been your greatest success to date? And your greatest challenge?

RÓD: As an entrepreneur by far the thing I’m most proud of is what we’ve managed to achieve with so little resource. We’ve raised just €550k but we’ve scaled to a 26 person team, 98% market share in our first market and rapid growth. I think to me that’s a testament of the strength of our team, our ability to build a great business and our passion for what we do. Interestingly, the single biggest challenge right now is unlocking the next round of funding that we need to achieve the same level of success in the UK and further afield. 

5. How has Covid affected your business?

RÓD: We grew rapidly. Across market share, staffing, GMV and every other metric. As the shift to digital solutions gained pace, we benefitted quite a lot because we had done the hard work of building product market fit and we were ready to provide a solution.

6. What kind of impact is your business having and how do you measure it?

We’re disrupting the fashion industry, making used goods accessible and a genuine alternative for the very first time. In doing this we’re eliminating thousands of tons of CO2, millions of litres of water and generating millions for good causes. We have built sophisticated environmental measurement into our platform, through our API’s we retrieve high quality data which we use to build this reporting. 

7. When you were little what did you want to be when you grew up?

RÓD: My first ever dream job was to be a pirate. Sailing the world and going on adventures. As I became a teenager I took that a bit serious and explored what the most modern day version of that could be and I sent a bunch of volunteer internship applications to treasure recovery companies that find old wrecks and retrieve the treasure. Unfortunately, the high seas are apparently not the best place for young teenagers. 
EB: A nurse

8. If you weren’t doing this, what would be your plan B?

RÓD:  I would be a full-time climate activist. 

9. What would you save in a fire?

RÓD:  My gorgeous Irish Water Spaniel!

10. Who is your role model/ greatest influence? And why?

RÓD: I follow the young leaders of Friday’s For Future a lot, their understanding of the interdependent nature of the change we need is incredibly inspiring. 

11. What is your happy track?

RÓD: Oh it’s completely mood dependent! On a Monday it’s Underworld Born Slippy (Nuxx) to give me the dance boost I need. On a Friday it’s probably some Luke Kelly folk music to wind down.

12. What’s your motto?

‘Let’s go, go, go!’ Is our fun internal motto. But we also quite defined values which we some up in this sentence: Mindfully delighting our community with disruptive ownership. Each one is defined in detail.

13. What are you most looking forward to in 2022?

RÓD: I think we’re going to reach a tipping point that will take our business into the stratosphere. Between the new updates in our platform, our corporate end of line contracts, our negotiations with the German body for used goods to become their sole ecommerce provider, the talent we’ve recently brought into the team; combined with how people are ready for a shopping revolution. We’re going big this year.

Join the circular fashion revolution, today.

Thriftify is raising €1m, €10k minimum ticket. EIS eligible.