Virtual Fitting Room Startup Raises $55M

To help develop its technology to drive online clothes purchases through recommendations, a startup that uses machine learning to help pair consumers with clothes that fit their size and style raised $55 million in a Series C funding round, TechCrunch reported.

True Fit, which describes itself as a “personalization platform for apparel and footwear,” raised the funds in a round led by Georgian Partners, with help from Cross Creek Advisors. Its existing investors — Jump Capital, Signal Peak Ventures and Intel Capital — also participated.

To ensure that clothes consumers purchase online actually fit, the company built a data platform that matches the data of clothes consumers have already purchased with ones they are seeking to purchase. Using this information, True Fit aims to increase the sales of eCommerce retailers, while reducing costly returns.

The company’s tech pulls in 100 or more data points from clothing ranges by major brands. It then uses machine learning — and consumers’ purchase histories— to recommend clothes based on their style to encourage them to make further purchases.

True Fit has since expanded its offering to include personalized recommendations for apparel and footwear. This recommendation engine is being offered up via an application programming interface (API), which the funding will further develop to help retailers “better personalize all touchpoints of the consumer journey.”

But True Fit is not the only company of its kind. Fits.me, which was established in 2010, aims to provide customers with a better understanding of which clothes fit them prior to making a purchase through a virtual fitting room. The service helps merchants by reducing the number of product returns and enhancing customer loyalty, while also gaining a deeper understanding of shoppers.

Fits.me was acquired by Japan’s largest online retailer, Rakuten, in 2015. At the time, the eCommerce company planned to use technology to strengthen its offerings and marketing solutions by providing a more personalized retail experience for shoppers.