Frate Raises Pre-Seed Round to Tackle E-Commerce Return Waste

A new Toronto-based startup, Frate, recently raised nearly two million dollars in pre-seed funding led by 2048 Ventures. The company’s mission is to “reinvent returns for the betterment of the planet.”

E-commerce has grown rapidly in Canada in recent years. The domestic e-commerce market is projected to be worth almost $80 billion in 2022, and is expected to grow 15% per year over the next five years. This online shopping boom has led to increased returns, which in turn lead to both increased pollution and financial harm for e-commerce companies that typically offer free returns.

Frate’s solution to this problem is through peer-to-peer returns. Rather than ship products back to warehouses just to ship them out again to new purchasers, Frate’s platform allows retailers to ship returns directly from one customer to another. This reduces the shipping cost and pollution required for returns under the traditional method.

Frate’s beta product is currently being used by some Canadian retailers and the company is planning a full launch in the new year.