2024 Fashion Tech Wrapped
The first ever Fashion Tech wrapped! As we close out another year of innovation and growth, let's take a moment to reflect.
Alright Fashion Techies,
The first ever Fashion Tech wrapped! As we close out another year of innovation and growth, let's take a moment to reflect on the funding, tech, and tastemakers that have reshaped the fashion landscape. From AI-driven design tools to sustainable tech fabrics, this year VCs and consumers hav see the expansive range* of fashion tech. Discover this year’s fashion tech journey, see which companies made waves, and get a glimpse into the future of 2025 will entail. Let's unwrap the year that was!
FASHION TECH WRAPPED
In 2024, the US fashion tech industry raised $1.06 billion in equity funding across 51 rounds, a 3.22% increased from 2023. This moves the US to the top country in funds raised, Singapore previously held that title in 2023 with $2.16B raised last year.
In 2024, the fashion tech industry saw a total of $2.97 billion in equity funding, distributed across 200+ investment rounds. This investment spread across various sub-sectors like sustainable textiles, wearable tech, e-commerce platforms, and AI-driven design tools indicates a broad-based growth in fashion tech, highlighting the industry's shift towards sustainability, digital integration, and consumer personalization.
Some notable raises:
Syre: Syre is innovating in sustainable fashion by producing bio-based materials for textiles, aiming to reduce the environmental footprint of clothing production through alternative, eco-friendly fabric solutions.
Daydream: Daydream focuses on providing personalized shopping results by using generative AI, machine learning and computer vision.
Ghost: Ghost is building the world’s most effective platform for surplus inventory. By combining user-friendly technology with industry data, Ghost is shaping the future of retail and offering an all-in-one solution for buying and selling goods effortlessly.
CLO Virtual Fashion: Known for its advanced 3D garment simulation software, CLO Virtual Fashion enables designers to create and visualize clothing designs in a virtual environment, significantly speeding up the design process and promoting sustainability through reduced waste.
unspun: unspun is revolutionizing apparel manufacturing with its 3D weaving technology, Vegaâ„¢, which can produce garments on-demand, thereby minimizing waste and offering personalized fit options directly from yarn to clothing.
Autone: Autone’s platform empowers Retail & CPG companies with precise predictions on their supply and demand, so they can grow, save money, eliminate waste and free up time to focus on their business.
Fashion tech adjacent, wearable technology company, Oura closed a $200 million Series D funding round in December 2024, bringing the company’s valuation to $5.2 billion.
This year we saw 64 acquisitions with the average price at a mere $326 million, up from $114 million in 2023.
To my surprise, 617 Fashion Tech companies were founded and/or launched in 2024. According to Trackxn, this number is significantly down from 2023, with 1967 Fashion Tech companies founded.
This was the year of a Fashion Tech awakening
I’ve been chatting about the fashion tech industry on the internet since 2022, but this year was different. The term ‘Fashion Tech’ was searched on Google over 2.2 million times and 1.8 million times on Tiktok.
Speaking of Tiktok, you all coined the term ‘Fashion Tech Tok’ and I’ll happily live out the rest of my life on Fashion Tech Tok.
The All Things Fashion Tech community was created and has grown to over 5000 Fashion Techies in 2024.
*Pre-Wrapped: Fashion Tech’s Range
Fashion tech is the intersection of fashion and technology, encompassing innovations that transform how fashion is designed, produced, perceived, and consumed. It includes a wide range of areas, such as:
E-commerce & Retail Tech:
Online shopping platforms, personalized AI recommendations, and cutting-edge logistics redefine how consumers discover and buy fashion.
Examples: Daydream, SSENSE, Bambuser, Farfetch,2024 Highlight: E-commerce & Retail Tech was notes as one of the top ten funded startup sectors in 2024.*
Textile Innovation:
Advanced materials, such as bioengineered fabrics, lab-grown leather, and smart textiles (clothes embedded with sensors or technology), drive sustainability and new functionality in fashion.
Examples: MycoWorks, unspunâ„¢
Digital Design & Production:
Technologies like 3D modeling, virtual prototyping, and AI-assisted design streamline the creation of clothing, reducing waste and speeding up development.
Examples: CLO Virtual Fashion, Browzwear, Off/Script2024 Highlight: CLO Virtual Fashion raised $34 million dollar raise.
Circular Fashion & Resale Platforms:
Tech-enabled solutions like rental services, resale marketplaces, and clothing recycling programs promote sustainability by extending the life of garments.
Examples: Rent the Runway, The RealReal, Ebay, Trove
Virtual Fashion & the Metaverse:
Digital-only clothing for AR & VR virtual try-ons, virtual worlds and avatars, NFT-based fashion items, and immersive brand experiences in the metaverse.
Examples: DRESSX, SYKY, The Fabricant, Snap, FFACE.ME
Retail Operations & Logistics:
AI-powered inventory management, return management, reverse supply chains, and tools for real-time supply chain tracking improve efficiency in the retail sector.
Examples: Ghost, Vaayu, Happy Returns, Optoro, Bazar
Wearable Technology (?):
Garments embedded with technology for functions like health monitoring, climate control, or even communication. Smart watches, fitness trackers, and other wearables that blend fashion with functionality.
Examples: Oura, Meta, Google