15 September 2020

The Fashion District Announces Tech Start-Ups Shortlist

The Fashion District, in collaboration with the Fashion Innovation Agency at London College of Fashion, UAL, has announced the shortlist for the second edition of Retail Futures.

The Innovation Challenge Prize calls upon fashion and tech companies to bring new tech solutions for the industry’s challenges and drive future growth in the fashion industry. It is focused on SMEs who believe that their business could change the way we shop in the future or revolutionise the retail supply chain.

This year, shortlisted SMEs are competing to win a cash prize of £15,000 to invest in their idea and two runners-up will receive £5,000 each, sponsored by Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield.

The shortlist was selected from 88 applications from around the world by a high-profile panel of industry experts: Harita Shah, Director of Brand, Creative, Media, Comms & Events at Unibail Rodamco-Westfield; Julian Burnett, VP Global Markets – Distribution at IBM; Remo Gettini, CTO at Depop; Carolin Wais, Venture Associate – Retail, Plug and Play; Matthew Drinkwater, Head of Fashion Innovation Agency at London College of Fashion, UAL.

The start-ups are offering up a range of solutions that include new augmented reality and 3D digital customer experiences, marketplaces for sustainable fashion and rental menswear, as well as artificial intelligence to optimise retail and supply chain efficiency. The 14 finalists are listed below:

1.       Alpha AR

2.       AnamXR

3.       Blaqbase

4.       Cerebra Technologies

5.       Compare Ethics

6.       DOV

7.       Favourup

 8.       Little Black Door

9.       Lone Design Club

10.    Garmentry

11.    Gfaive

12.    Presize

13.    RoundRack

14.    Skinz

In addition, six other businesses were highly commended for the calibre of their ideas and potential to innovate within industry:

1.       AskLili

2.       By Rotation

3.       HURR

 4.       IVA

5.       Own-Kind

6.       Personify XP

Harita Shah – Director of Brand, Creative, Media, Comms & Events, Unibail Rodamco-Westfield, said:

There have been some truly innovative ideas and solutions put forward by the SMEs. 2020 has been a year of huge acceleration of trends which has fostered creativity and ingenuity – just what we need to explore and reshape the industry going forward. URW is proud to be working with Fashion District again this year on Retail Futures 2020 and investing in the future of retail.