Thryft
Shut DownShopify for Instagram sellers
Social commerce platform that turns Instagram pages into shoppable storefronts for thrift and vintage sellers.
About
Thryft was a social commerce platform built for micro and small businesses selling secondhand, thrifted, and vintage clothing on Instagram. The platform automatically generated websites from sellers' Instagram pages and provided unique checkout links for selling over Instagram Live — eliminating the complex multi-step process of juggling Instagram, shipping platforms, and payment apps. Founded by UC Berkeley dropouts Capri Wheaton and Samuel Yang, Thryft participated in Y Combinator's W21 batch. The company originally launched as an online marketplace for secondhand clothing from brick-and-mortar thrift stores, featuring 14,000+ vetted products with a three-step verification process for sellers, environmental friendliness, and fair pricing. After finding limited scalability in that model, they pivoted to become the infrastructure layer for Instagram-native sellers. The company raised $125K from Y Combinator but is no longer active.
DailyDropout Take
Thryft caught our eye as a clever play on the booming secondhand clothing market, combining sustainability with the social commerce wave on Instagram. Founded by two UC Berkeley freshmen who dropped out to join YC, the platform solved a real pain point for thrift sellers juggling multiple tools. While the company ultimately didn't survive, it was an early signal of the Instagram-native commerce trend that platforms like Instagram Shopping would later formalize.
Discovery signal: YC W21 batch, founder hustle (built multiple apps pre-college), riding the sustainability + social commerce convergence
What Makes Them Unique
Thryft uniquely targeted Instagram-native thrift sellers by auto-generating storefronts from their existing Instagram content and enabling live-selling checkout — solving a workflow pain point that general platforms like Shopify and Depop didn't address.
14,000+
Products Listed
45
Active Sellers (at pivot)
$125K
Total Raised
Target Markets
Founders
Capri Wheaton
Co-Founder & CEO
UC Berkeley dropout. Previously passionate about sustainability — motivated by the 26 billion pounds of clothing ending up in landfills each year. Later founded Dressd, a peer-to-peer dress rental app.
Samuel Yang
Co-Founder & CTO
UC Berkeley CS dropout. Previously built Doppel, an AI facial recognition app with 120,000+ users. Also a musician with 5 songs released on Spotify.
Funding History
Lead: Y Combinator