Stephanie Benedetto (right) and Phil Derasmo (left), Founders of Queen of Raw

Discover New Opportunities:

• Save money​: Secure the raw materials needed across your supply lines at a steep discount and away from areas impacted by disruption
• Intelligently reallocate your waste​: Free up costly warehouse space by quickly and easily reusing, reselling, and recycling excess stock to a global network
• Access real-time supply chain and sustainability data​: Assess vulnerabilities and track how your involvement in the circular economy is reducing carbon emissions, water consumption, landfill dumping, and a host of business priorities

At the time of True Wealth Venture’s investment, businesses participating in Queen of Raw — from the world’s leading Fortune 500 to fast fashion brands and luxury retailers — already had saved millions of dollars and more than a billion gallons of water. That’s enough clean water for 1.43 million people around the world to drink for three years. We are excited about the impact we can have as we continue to scale.

More about Queen of Raw:

“The ‘Queen of Raw’ is working to make the fashion industry more sustainable“ – Good Morning America 5/6/19

“Through [Sara and Kerry’s] insights, we realized we had found an important partner and we are excited to share in this journey together and to support each other.  They have helped many women entrepreneurs create lasting and beneficial impacts on our society, planet, and businesses.” – Stephanie Benedetto

“I really was compelled by Queen of Raw and what they’re trying to do in terms of leveraging waste and incorporating that back into the industry that we all operate in.” – Noel Kinder, Chief Sustainability Officer, Nike

“Queen of Raw is challenging the status quo by driving sustainable change.” – Christian Klein, Chief Executive Officer, SAP

Co-founder and CEO: Stephanie Benedetto
Headquarters: New York, NY

Meet Stephanie Benedetto :

Stephanie Benedetto, CEO of Queen of Raw

Background: The waste associated with the fashion industry shocked Queen of Raw co-founder, Stephanie Benedetto, as she worked to build a company that created a sustainable synthetic replacement for leather.  “I was exposed to the voluminous amount of waste.  I would see walls upon walls of perfectly good stuff collecting dust…I thought, this doesn’t make any sense.  There’s a supply and demand mismatch.”  At any point in time, manufacturers may hold $120 billion USD of unused inventory, while buyers scramble to source fabric.  This observation sparked the idea for Queen of Raw.

An advocate for women in business and sustainability, Stephanie has been featured in NPR, Good Morning America, NYTimes, Vogue, ELLE, and WCBS.  She is a NASA/NIKE/IKEA/DELL LAUNCH.org Innovator, a Grand Prize WeWork Creator Awards Winner presented by Ashton Kutcher, a Cartier Women’s Initiative Finalist, and an MIT – Solve Global Challenge Winner.  She is a Member of Pledge 1% and Founding Member of Wildlife Friendly Enterprise Network, along with Aveda, Kering, and Stella McCartney.

Stephanie graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with honors with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics.  She earned her Juris Doctor from Emory University School of Law.

Why Start Queen of Raw? Stephanie grew up living and breathing fabric.  Her great grandfather emigrated from Austria in the 1890s and started a New York City textile business.  She modeled Queen of Raw on her grandfather’s business.  “He found wasted garments nearby and repurposed them by hand with minimal waste and minimal toxins to sell to local customers,” Stephanie says.  “I’m looking at how we can get back to that in a way that makes sense for people, for planet, and for profit.”

Why Seek Venture Capital? “By seeking venture capital, we know we can scale quickly and achieve hypergrowth for our business.  The quicker we can match a buyer with a seller, the quicker we can keep this waste out of landfill and turn pollution into profit.  At the same time, we are establishing new and powerful networks through True Wealth Ventures, learning from their expertise and benefiting from their strong strategic partnerships.”

Why True Wealth Ventures? “True Wealth Ventures is committed to companies like ours that build sustainable innovations promoting people, planet, and profit.   During the due diligence process, we had many valuable conversations with Sara and Kerry.  Through their insights, we realized we had found an important partner and we are excited to share in this journey together and to support each other.  They have helped many women entrepreneurs create lasting and beneficial impacts on our society, planet, and businesses.  We can’t wait to learn from and collaborate with those that came before us, and impart knowledge to those that follow.”

Have you seen women General Partners bring a different perspective to the table? “Women GPs bring a significant perspective to the table.  Our base in the fashion industry is led by women entrepreneurs that have innovated new ways to be sustainable today while giving a strong voice to a sustainable future.  When it comes to supply chains, more and more women are leading powerful initiatives, helping further drive growth in our industry to meet the demands of the next generations.”

Do you think a woman’s perspective is valuable to this market? “Women need to become key decision makers in their organizations to bring about change.  Many women leave work for a variety of reasons, including having children.  I launched my business at the same time as I had my first child.  This has only made me stronger.  I am doing what I am doing to make a difference in the world not just for myself anymore, but for my children and my children’s children.  Because of this mission, I find the strength to meet any challenge.  Together we will change the world!”

Words of Wisdom: “Don’t be afraid!  Don’t be afraid to take risks, put your ideas out there, and test your solution in the market.  These are important steps to being able to improve your offering, iterate your product effectively, and be the last player in the market who really dominates.”