The round was led by TAL, Hong Kong based global leader in garment manufacturing, estimated to make one in six men’s dress shirts in the USA. TAL remains one of the main investors in Metail, after it led the previous round in 2014. This fresh injection of capital is in addition to the £12.5m already raised since Tom Adeyoola founded the company in 2008.
With an existing 7.7 million customers, the investment will expand Metail’s global presence, and the funds will be used to scale its operations. On the commercial side, Metail is concentrating efforts in Europe and Asia, one of the early adopters of technology in retail. In terms of research and development, Metail is continuing advancement of their cutting edge technology focused on revolutionising the retail supply chain.
Metail’s aim is to make clothing fit for all by digitising every garment for every body to try on. Its patented technology enables customers to try on clothes online before they buy, reducing returns for retailers and improving the customer experience. Retailers are wasting an estimated 80% ex-factory margin through inefficiencies in the traditional supply chain, which Metail is seeking to transform.
Metail’s technology has been proven by Kellogg School of Management to boost sales by 22% and reduce returns by 5%, ensuring that when a purchase is made it is more likely to remain with the customer. To date the company has digitised 80,000 garments and has nine patents granted and 22 pending.
At a time of uncertainty for investment into UK tech companies, an inward investment of this scale from Asia enables Metail to continue to power the virtual fitting room of partner retailers including ABOF in India and Princess Polly in Australia. UK companies are a primary target for Asian investment, with GP Bullhound highlighting 30 deals worth a disclosed value of $37.4bn since 2014.
Tom Adeyoola, founder and CEO of Metail (pictured) said: “These funds set us in great stead for our mission to become the Google of size and shape. The Asian focus on innovation in the fashion supply chain has meant that TAL has looked to Metail to provide breakthrough technology for garment digitization and data collection. I’m incredibly excited about Metail’s next stage of growth.”
Delman Lee, President and CTO of TAL said: “We are delighted to lead the investment in Metail, and believe in their vision to disrupt the whole fashion supply chain. Metail has some of the most advanced technology in this area, and their unique dataset leads to a number of transformative applications for the whole garment supply chain, ultimately leading to clothes that fit the customer better.”
Caroline Rush, CEO of the British Fashion Council said: “It’s excellent to see such a major investment in a British fashion technology company. Metail’s technological approach to solving the sizing dilemma faced by retailers and customers alike is changing the traditional face of the fashion industry. The investment in Metail is yet another example of Britain’s long-standing excellence in fashion receiving global attention.”
ABOUT METAIL
Founded in 2008, Metail is a British company developing an immersive ‘try it on’ online shopping experience which enables consumers to create a bespoke 3D model of themselves.
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 and the company’s operations are able to photograph and digitise over 200 garments per studio per day facilitating work with mass market high volume retailers.
After entering a few simple measurements consumers can generate a MeModel, which is 92-96% accurate to their specific size. Research by the Kellogg School of Management has proven that Metail’s technology lifts sales per visitor by 22% and reduces returns by 5%. Customers on sites using Metail’s technology spend 3.5 times longer on the site.
Established by Cambridge graduate Tom Adeyoola, Metail has raised over $20 million in funding and officially launched with its first customer – Clothing at Tesco – in February 2012. Metail was also BAFTA nominated for their work with ITV in 2013.
The company has since developed an international client base, spanning House of Holland in the UK, ABOF in India, Princess Polly in Australia, Tangs in Singapore and FFL in Taiwan, as well as a 2017 partnership with Kolon in South Korea via their technology arm, Benit.
Metail created a world exclusive when collaborating with House of Holland for their London Fashion Week show in September 2014. For the first time ever, consumers could watch the catwalk show in real time and try on and pre-order the outfits as they were revealed for the first time on the catwalk models. This collaboration saw industry recognition by winning ‘Digital Coalition of the Year’ at the Decoded Fashion Futures Awards in June 2015.
Metail also saw success at IBM Amplify, winning the IBM Commerce 2015 ‘Ecosystem Technology Innovation of the Year’, and at the 2017 Techworld Techies Awards, winning the 2017 Retail & eCommerce Innovator of the Year.
Based across four offices in London, Cambridge, Singapore and now South Korea, Metail has built a talented and dedicated team of 62 employees including 13 PHDs.
For more information about Metail see www.metail.com
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