LOS ANGELES, Aug. 25, 2022 — VIAVIA, a new video-first e-commerce platform, announces USD 8M seed round to launch a debut fashion retail destination catered to Gen Z shoppers.
The funding is co-led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Basis Set Ventures, with participation from Exor Seeds, Backend Ventures, and Andrew Ng’s AI Fund. The funding follows a USD 1.15M pre-seed round that the company announced in February 2022.
VIAVIA seeks to modernize the fashion e-commerce experience by marrying creator-driven live and short-form video content with end-to-end, AI-powered tech infrastructure for the fashion supply chain.
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) General Partner and Head of Asia, Carmen Chang, said:
“I’ve seen several changes in consumer behavior across the US and Asia over my career. I am especially intrigued by technology’s role in exporting content and commerce patterns. We have seen this with TikTok regarding how Gen Z interacts with social media, and VIAVIA is positioned to encourage a similar change in behavior in the ecommerce sector.”
Sixuan Li, co-founder and CEO of VIAVIA, asserts that:
“Fashion retail is going through a profound upheaval. The conventional timescale from an emerging trend notion to wearable garments has been distorted by Asian supply networks that are export-focused. Consumers in Generation Z demand companies to interact with them through genuine, creator-led, and video-first content to make sense of this pace and production volume. By using an in-house talent team to represent artists and influencers and relying heavily on video and live streaming to bring brand stories to life, VIAVIA hopes to revolutionize how existing e-commerce platforms respond to changes in consumer behavior.
VIAVIA will offer a cutting-edge technological infrastructure for fashion firms and supply chains, beginning with Made in Italy and the e-commerce platform. Italy, which produces over 70% of all luxury apparel, according to VIAVIA, offers a vast untapped market for businesses outside the typical ultra-high fashion houses.
The technological solution VIAVIA improves order flow to regional manufacturers while reducing costs for brands and cutting production lead times. Co-founder and head of engineering of VIAVIA, Andrea Pasinetti, explains “To effectively connect designers, brands, and manufacturers in Italy and elsewhere, we are beginning with a new, AI-powered Product Lifecycle Management solution. We aim to leverage technology to make the fashion industry’s creative process friction-free for everyone.”
VIAVIA states this infrastructure will scale well with other European manufacturing hubs. Record amounts of cash are also flowing to the global e-commerce supply chain and logistics companies, with the latter expected to reach USD 3 trillion in revenue by 2028.
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