Yaytrade / Refine Group

Overview

In 2016, Yaytrade was founded by David Knape and Jon Berglund with a mission to revolutionize the resale marketplace and promote circular consumption. I joined as the fourth team member and Chief Technology Officer — and later served on the board of directors through the company's IPO. I was responsible for building the entire technical foundation, assembling the team, architecting the platform and defining the product strategy that would shape the company's trajectory through rebranding, a successful stock market introduction and a strategic pivot to SaaS.

Process

As CTO, I assembled and led a diverse team of 11: a Design Lead, 3 Product Owners, 2 Frontend developers, 2 Backend developers, plus Sales and Content. We collaborated with Kurppa Hosk on a complete rebrand that repositioned the company in the market. I led the development of a robust, scalable design system that could evolve with the business — critical when we later pivoted from a consumer marketplace to a SaaS platform serving fashion brands directly. As a board member, I was directly involved in the strategic decisions that led to the IPO, ensuring our technical foundation could support the scrutiny and scale that a public listing demands.

Outcome

Yaytrade achieved a successful IPO — the first company I helped take public. It evolved into Refine Group (via Spherio Group), now operating resale marketplaces and developing SaaS solutions for managing overstock, samples and second-hand inventory for major fashion brands. The technical and design systems I built remain the foundation of the platform. The company continues advancing circular consumption goals with the architecture we designed for exactly this kind of growth.