- HQ
- Oakland, USA
- Company size
- 1,001-5,000
- Funding raised
- $306.1M
- Lead investors
- Goldman Sachs Investment Partners, Park West Asset Management, Irving Investors
- Team location
- Eastern Europe
- Cooperation time
- since 2018
- Product
- AI-powered resale marketplace & Resale-as-a-Service platform”
- Notable clients
- Walmart, Adidas, Gap, Tommy Hilfiger, Reformation, Athleta
ThredUP: Fully backed R&D center in Eastern Europe
ThredUP is one of the world’s largest online resale platforms – a recognized name in sustainable fashion with nearly 300 million secondhand items processed from 60,000 brands. The company powers both its own marketplace and a Resale-as-a-Service program for 50+ global retailers including Reformation, Athleta, and Tommy Hilfiger. Listed on Nasdaq and the LTSE, ThredUP recorded $260M in revenue in 2024 and has delivered four consecutive quarters of accelerating growth through 2025.
Issue
In 2018, ThredUp had a clear strategic target: expand engineering capacity into Eastern Europe, building a senior team to work on the same product as the US office. The talent was there. The savings were there.
The question wasn’t where to go – it was how to build there cost-effectively and without losing control.
ThredUp needed a fully operational R&D office in Ukraine, but without a local legal entity, Ukrainian vendor contracts, or cross-border payment complexity. Engineers also needed to travel to the US regularly, which required proper employment structure to make US visas possible at all. A fragmented setup of separate recruiters, lawyers, and accountants wasn’t going to cut it. Too many handoffs, too little accountability.
ThredUp needed transparency, trust, and full ownership of the outcome – not a chain of handoffs.
One accountable partner to own the entire operation: senior tech recruitment, compliant employment, and full back-office infrastructure.
No fragmentation, no coordination overhead, no gaps in ownership.
Solution
Alcor became the single accountable partner ThredUp needed, covering every layer of the operation.
The legal and compliance infrastructure came first. Alcor built ThredUp’s entire Eastern European employment framework from scratch – compliant contracts, local accounting, tax management, and full IP coverage across two jurisdictions, with no local legal entity required. ThredUp’s US leadership got one point of contact and full visibility into everything on the ground.
Recruitment ran in parallel. No generalist sourcing, no CV spam – our 40+ in-house tech recruiters drew from a pipeline of 325,000 vetted candidates to close the rare, senior profiles ThredUp needed.
The result was an R&D center of 30 senior engineers, embedded in the product, fully employed and operationally backed by Alcor. Beyond recruitment and compliance, the team handled visa support, equity consulting for the Ukrainian engineers, and delivered a Contingency Plan when 2022 brought its challenges – all under one roof.
Results:
Build Your AI Engineering Team in 30 Days
No vendor chaos. 0 compliance risk. No more recruiting delays.
Alcor Helped Build the Foundation for Everything That Followed
Alcor builds Backstory’s Eastern Europe AI R&D team
Backstory raises $100M, reaches $1.1B valuation – becomes a unicorn
Named to Deloitte Technology Fast 500 two years running
Recognized as a Visionary in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Revenue Action Orchestration
Launches SalesAI + MCP integration, connecting AI agents – including Claude and ChatGPT – to revenue intelligence data
Use our calculator to estimate your team budget before any conversations starts
Clients Love Us. Teams Do Too.
“The Alcor team has always been supportive and approachable whenever assistance was needed. Rather than feeling like an external resource, engineers working through Alcor are able to integrate closely with the client’s teams. This creates a more collaborative environment and allows engineers to have a greater impact.”
“My overall experience has been outstanding. Alcor’s model offered the right balance — strong operational support combined with genuine ownership and long-term collaboration. In this model, I am a core member of the team. Rather than rotating between projects, I can invest meaningfully in improving the product and establishing processes that deliver lasting value.”
“Whenever I’ve had tricky bank requests or needed extra documentation, Alcor has resolved everything rapidly. I also love their support with business trips and expense tracking—it’s incredibly convenient. Their team is always available via messenger and ready to help. Highly recommended for anyone who wants a hassle-free professional life!”
“Alcor has been a reliable partner throughout, especially in complex situations. Issues are resolved quickly — often within minutes or hours. Their ability to adapt and support us in complex situations has made a real difference for our team.”
