London-based women’s wear company Threads has reportedly raised funds amounting to $20 million in a fresh funding round. The funding round was led by fashion and millennial-focused fund C Ventures. It also saw the participation of Highland Europe (which invests in Matches Fashion, among other related businesses).
The funds so raised will be utilized by Threads for the expansion of its business across the board. Also, a part of the funds will be deployed in the hiring of more stylists and more engineers to build tech which would help the operation run smoother. Other creative staff will also be hired to boost up the operations. At present, 90 people work in the company.
“Tech has moved quickly and we are starting to test and how we will integrate more AI,” founder and CEO Sophie Hill said. “You can see where the customers might be happy with that response versus talking to a person. It’s about us seeing how customers will react.”
The company offers high-end, millennial products for mostly female customers with tailored selections of luxury fashion. It sells these products to them on services like WeChat, WhatsApp, Snapchat, Instagram and Apple’s iMessage for their primary interactions with a team of human (not AI) shopping assistants.
Hill stated that they intentionally didn’t build a website for consumers, just as they haven’t built an app. She believes in curation and convenience. It’s a customer-centric business and it’s built on chat because that is where the customers wanted to be and transact.
“Just because someone doesn’t have a website or app doesn’t mean we don’t have a direct purchase path,” Hill said. “We are going to be using technology to enhance that personalised experience. Using tech blended with human interaction will be the ultimate service for the luxury industry. We see it as a compliment, a way to enhance the personal experience.”
Threads claims to have a customer base in over 100 countries where 70 percent of them are under the age of 35. Among these regions, Asia is one of the fastest-growing regions.