AI-driven UK fashion search and recommendation platform Hey Savi has secured €2.6 million in funding, which it said make sit one of the largest pre-seed rounds by an all-female-founded UK start-up. 

Using AI alongside unique customer and fashion data, Hey Savi launched with the promise “to completely reshape the way fashion lovers search and shop online, delivering a highly personalised solution for customers to find and buy their perfect outfit first time, every time”.

Founded by Victoria Peppiatt, Angela Vinci, and Sarah Daniel, the trio of entrepreneurs each bring plenty of experience across their combined portfolio, with a record of “starting, building, scaling and exiting high-growth businesses”.

For instance, Vinci, its co-founder and Chief Product and Technology Officer, developed consumer products for brands including Farfetch, Gap, Sephora, Vinted and Apple. Co-CEO Peppiatt, a previous Management Today Tech Entrepreneur of the Year, is a second-time tech founder and investor having exited her previous start-up, Phrasee, in 2022. Fellow co-CEO Daniel is ex-Global CEO of experiences and brand-awareness platform Prominate.

The trio of founders now see a “combination of an enormous market opportunity and the clear customer need for a more personalised online shopping experience”. They point to over 10,000 fashion searches made every minute in the UK, “but search functionality for online shopping has not changed since the internet began”. 

“The emergence of transformational technologies, including AI, combined with a growing shift in customer expectations, provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reconnect shoppers with retailers”, they say.             

Vinci added: “The challenge consumers face today is that search engines will always prioritise their business models of paid for advertising, rather than delivering relevant results.

“The search experience is outdated and not fit for today’s fast-paced fashion environment. We are creating an experience customers will love and that will give them confidence in their choices. Hey Savi’s unique platform is built by an industry leading, fully female product team, and is perfectly timed to reignite the way customers engage with retailers online, unlocking millions in new revenue.”