Startup DressX has received $15 million in investment

Digital marketplace DressX has held a funding round

The startup DressX has received $15 million in funding. Two girls founded the project, and it is a marketplace of exclusive clothes, not in a physical format, but in a digital format. On the platform, you can find more than 3,000 items from different designers and DressX-branded models. The founders plan to use the funds to expand the range and scale the business.

Greenfield, which invests in Web3 projects, was the key investor. In addition to DressX, its portfolio includes NEAR. Warner Music, The Artemis, and other companies also participated in the funding round. According to official information, DressX’s total investment amounted to $19 million.

The company was founded in 2020 by Daria Shapovalova and Natalia Modenova. Before having their own company, the women organized Fashion Week in Kyiv. The DressX range is NFT clothing that can be used in virtual life in metaverses or “put on” during video calls. Marketplace products can be purchased on several platforms, including Roblox. In addition, the startup plans to collaborate with Snapchat. DressX clothing is also available in virtual spaces.

DressX history

The marketplace got off to a fast start. In 2021, DressX managed to raise $3.3 million. At the time, the range had 1,700 items from 150 designers. According to the startup founders, they want to achieve 1 billion NFT items sales and are moving steadily towards their goal, constantly expanding the range.

Before diving into the digital world, Daria and Natalia organized fashion events and opened a showroom in Paris in 2014. Two years later, the boutique had a turnover of €1 million. In 2017, the women moved to San Francisco but continued business in France.

In Silicon Valley, the entrepreneurs took their first steps into the digital world but only went beyond the possibility of changing prints in the app. Then the girls opened a physical pop-up shop in Los Angeles but had to close it in 2019 to focus on digital solutions. And this time, the girls’ idea succeeded and received good financial backing from investors.

DressX was launched in the summer of 2020. It worked quite simply: a user sent in a photo of themselves, and a day later, they received a processed version from the startup with the garment they were wearing. In 2021, an augmented reality version appeared, where it was possible to try on various items through a smartphone camera. When the user bought the selected garment, they got a picture of themselves in the designated item. Then came the option of buying NFTs.