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Working at RESPONSIBLE
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About
RESPONSIBLE started from a number: of the billions of garments made every year, Mark Dowds told Silicon Republic, "only 5 to 7pc of these clothes are sold for a second time." Its answer is to put resale value in front of the shopper at the moment of purchase. The buy-back technology plugs into a brand's own e-commerce and stores, tells a shopper the residual value of the item they are about to buy, and lets them wear it and return it whenever they like in exchange for credit. The company then handles the refurbishment and resale from a Belfast warehouse.
It raised a $6.6M seed round in January 2022 led by Barclays Sustainable Impact Capital, with Techstart Ventures, InPost founder Rafał Brzoska and Nextdoor chief executive Sarah Friar joining. A month later it put £1.2m into expanding its Weavers Court headquarters, creating 13 jobs with £98,000 of Invest NI support. In March 2023 it acquired HARU, a UK and Ireland re-commerce operator that had been running second-hand retail for more than 550 charity shops since 2018, to combine intake, renewal and resale in one platform. Its public site now positions it around archive streetwear: "the premier circular fashion platform bridging the gap between archive streetwear culture and sustainable resale."
Mark Dowds is co-founder and CEO. He co-founded the on-demand insurance company Trov in 2012 and set up Belfast's Ormeau Baths co-working space; he took the TechTO stage in December 2019 as a managing director at the fintech investor Anthemis Group, two years before RESPONSIBLE existed.
Backers
Barclays Sustainable Impact Capital (seed lead), Techstart Ventures, Rafał Brzoska (InPost founder), Sarah Friar (Nextdoor CEO); £98,000 from Invest NI toward job creation · $6.6M seed raised January 2022
Quick answers
What does RESPONSIBLE do?
It builds buy-back technology for clothing brands: shoppers see what an item will be worth second-hand before they buy it, and can return it at any point for credit. RESPONSIBLE then refurbishes and resells the garment.
Who founded it and when?
Mark Dowds, in Belfast in 2021. He had earlier co-founded the on-demand insurance company Trov and set up Belfast's Ormeau Baths co-working space.
How is it funded?
A $6.6M seed round announced in January 2022, led by Barclays Sustainable Impact Capital with Techstart Ventures, InPost founder Rafał Brzoska and Nextdoor CEO Sarah Friar. A month later it put £1.2m into its Belfast headquarters, creating 13 jobs.
What was the HARU acquisition?
In March 2023 RESPONSIBLE bought HARU, a UK and Ireland re-commerce operator that had managed second-hand retail for over 550 charity shops since 2018. The deal combined intake, renewal and resale into one platform; terms were not disclosed.