Tred operates a peer-to-peer online marketplace that lets buyers arrange test drives, interact with sellers, pick up or have cars delivered, and access financing, vehicle protection, value reports, and fraud protection. The company launched as a 2012 Techstars Seattle graduate and pivoted its model beginning in 2015 to build both supply and demand sides of the marketplace. Tred has expanded beyond Seattle into numerous U.S. markets, including Los Angeles, Portland, San Francisco, Dallas, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, multiple Florida markets, and six newly entered markets such as Denver, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, and Chicago. The startup employs about 30 people and will use the new capital to expand products, locations, partnerships, and its engineering team. Tred competes with online used-car marketplaces including Carvana, Vroom, and Carvago and has seen growth accelerated by pandemic-driven shifts toward online car purchasing. Tred operates a mobile-dealership service that inspects sellers’ cars, takes photos, lists vehicles across nearly a dozen websites, sets up test drives, and finalizes sales with the owner’s approval. The company also offers financing, warranties, and buy-back guarantees while charging owners a roughly 3% fee versus traditional dealership cuts of around 30%. Tred no longer buys inventory; it focuses on facilitating transactions to be more scalable and reduce fixed costs. The startup graduated from the Techstars Seattle accelerator in 2012 and has pivoted several times—from partnering with dealerships to a peer-to-peer marketplace and buying/selling—before settling on its current model. Financially, Tred has raised a total of $4 million to date and recently added another $1 million from existing backers. The company employs 14 people and is based in Seattle. Tred is a Seattle startup that enables customers to take test drives from their homes. The service typically charges $39 per car for 30-minute test drives, and ran a free-test-drive promotion for new customers in May. Tred currently operates in King County and has completed nearly 1,000 test drives. The company recently launched “Sell your Car” and “Trade-In” programs that provide guaranteed offer and trade-in values usable at Tred Certified dealerships. Tred has raised $2.4M in new funding, bringing total funding to $2.5M, and plans to use the proceeds for hiring. The company was founded by CEO Grant Feek alongside CTO John Wehr and designer Blake Perdue and participated in TechStars Seattle in 2012. Tred operates an on-demand test-drive service that delivers vehicles to customers’ homes or offices for a flat fee and provides trained Tred Auto Experts to guide hour-long evaluations. Customers can order up to two cars at a time for $19 per vehicle, allowing side-by-side comparisons without visiting multiple showrooms. Auto Experts stay for the test drive, answer questions, and leave a packet of resources to help with purchase decisions and financing. Tred has partnered with local dealers in Seattle and is cleared to operate by the Washington State Association of Dealers of America and the Washington State Department of Licensing. The company graduated from TechStars’ Seattle accelerator and launched publicly in Seattle as its first market. Tred’s founder and CEO Grant Feek believes the model can expand to other U.S. markets, though he expects different performance in very dense cities.

Total raised

$30M

Funding rounds

4

Latest round

Series B

Latest activity

Nov 2021