The round’s lead investor is TAL apparel of TAL GROUP – a global leader in garment manufacturing - whose CTO Delman Lee, joins the board. Additional investment comes from existing investor John Gleasure, Commercial Director of Perform Group Plc. who also joins the board.
The investment will be used primarily to develop Metail’s mobile offering, scheduled for release early next year, and to advance its user ecosystem. In addition, the funds will be used to expand the firm’s overseas presence, building on its existing operations in Singapore and partnerships across the globe including South America, Asia and Europe.
The funding will also support accelerated innovation with a number of new hires to expand the existing team of 40, which already boasts seven PhDs.
Metail Founder and CEO, Tom Adeyoola, said, "This new investment will give rise to some very exciting opportunities for Metail, enabling us to expand our global presence and develop our mobile offering. More importantly, this investment validates our vision to become the Google of sizing and shape.
"We’ve worked extremely hard to develop a product that delivers genuine sales growth for retailers and offers the consumer an unrivalled virtual fitting room experience, so this investment is testament to the magnificent progress that the team has worked so hard to achieve.
“We enable consumers to create themselves virtually, by developing a ‘MeModel’ through which they can shop and interact with clothes. Over the coming year you will see us launch on mobile, in-store and grow across South America, Asia and Europe, before setting our sights on the US.”
Tal’s Delman Lee commented, “We are delighted by the opportunity to be part of the Metail story. Metail shares our values on data, R&D and sizing. We look forward to seeing the positive impact they will have on our industry and we look forward to helping them with the eventual move into men's clothing.”
Metail uses online fitting room technology that allows the user to create a three dimensional model of themselves and virtually try on a range of fashion garments. The company boasts an impressive international client base, including Warehouse and House of Holland in the UK and SingTel in Singapore.
Henry Holland, Founder of House of Holland commented, "The results from using Metail are impressive, plus the product is great fun. We all love playing with it and want to keep working together.”
Caroline Rush, Chief Executive of the British Fashion Council added, "This season London Fashion Week celebrated digital innovation in fashion. We’re constantly encouraging designers to embrace technology to amplify their stories and House of Holland's collaboration with Metail genuinely exemplifies this."
About Metail
Founded in 2008, Metail is a British company developing online fitting room technology, which enables consumers to create a bespoke 3D model of them. The technology aims to increase consumer confidence in buying clothing online through an engaging and delightful product. Metail’s technology can be incorporated into any e-commerce platform. After entering a few simple measurements consumers can generate a MeModel, which is 94-96% accurate to their specific size.
Established by Cambridge graduate Tom Adeyoola, Metail has raised over $20 million in funding and officially launched with their first customer – Clothing at Tesco – in February 2012. The company has since developed an international client base, spanning Warehouse and House of Holland in the UK and SingTel in Singapore.
Metail created a world exclusive when collaborating with House of Holland for their London Fashion Week show in September 2014. Consumers could watch the catwalk show in real time and try on the outfits as they were revealed for the first time on the models.
Based across three offices in Cambridge, London and Singapore, Metail has built a talented and dedicated team of 40 employees.
For more information about Metail see http://metail.com/metail-history-and-facts/
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Media enquiries:
For further details contact:
Rebecca Allard, Marketing Manager, Metail: Rebecca@metail.com / +44 203 289 0028
Katie Pugh, Citigate Dewe Rogerson: Katie.pugh@citigatedr.co.uk / +44 207 282 2914
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Virtual fitting room service Metail raises $12m of further funding
20 October 2014
Virtual fitting room company Metail has announced the closing of a further $12m of funding, bringing the total investment in Metail to $20m since it was founded in 2008.