159: Your Purpose is the Story. Gemma Comabella, COCOLI

Why is there no Vestiaire Collective for furniture? Why isn’t there a platform that gives designer furniture the second life it deserves?

This was the question Gemma Comabella posed herself while she was Managing Director DACH for MADE.com. And she hit a nerve.

Pre-loved furniture is more than just a gap in the market. It is also a solution to reduce the environmental impact of our love for all things interior, which produces million of tonnes of waste every year. Gemma Comabella decided to do her part and founded COCOLI, together with a dream team of five co-founders to tackle a tough problem no one has solved before. Together they have created a platform that reinvents the way we find, buy and reuse furniture. Launched this January, COCOLI already has 4 warehouses in Germany, lots of media interest and 40% month-on-month growth.

“It’s not about what you sell,“ says Gemma. “What is your purpose?“ She found hers after a career building global fashion and consumer brands like Zalando, L’Oréal, Vestiaire Collective and Showroom, and then joining the furniture platform Made.com as Managing Director for the DACH region in 2019.

This episode is packed with insights including:

🤝 How to convince 5 co-founders to form an all star team

🗞 Why purpose creates PR

💸 What works in fundraising in the current environment

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