Throughout her years working in technology, Jenny Wang, 28, always found herself stumbling back to one idea — a personal styling agent to help users decide what to wear and buy based on their budget, lifestyle, weather and calendar.
She has tried to build such a product numerous times in the past, “but the AI technology was not yet mature enough,” she told TechCrunch. That’s changed so a few months ago she announced the launch of her dream company, Alta, followed by the announcement today of an $11 million seed round led by Menlo Ventures.
The product, which feels straight out of the movie “Clueless,” is indeed an AI stylist and personal shopper that makes outfit recommendations and lets users try on those looks with their personalized virtual avatar. For example, a person can ask Alta what the best outfit might be for, say, TechCrunch Disrupt, and the AI will offer suggestions and present a lookbook of outfits.
Users upload their closet by either taking photos, forwarding purchase receipts, or searching what is already in the Alta database. People can also dress themselves in clothes they are looking to buy, mixing and matching with clothes already in their closet.
There are others playing around in the AI styling space, such as Whering and Cladwell, all trying to recreate the magic of that iconic scene in “Clueless,” where Cher plans an outfit from her closet using computer technology. Want considers herself to be part of the new wave of consumer technology, looking to make styling and shopping more effective.
“There are existing players like Google Shopping and Pinterest who are also experimenting with AI,” she continued. “But the experiences that consumers will crave and use in the future will need to be built with new technical architectures and new user interfaces.”
The product is backed by some heavy names, including Michelle Obama’s stylist Meredith Koop, who Wang said helped train Alta’s AI.
Other investors in the company include Benchstrength; Algaé Ventures, the investment firm backed by fashion’s prestigious Arnault family of LVMH; Phenomenal Ventures, the firm founded by Kamala Harris’ niece Meena; Anthroptic’s VC arm Anthrology fund, and a slew of angel investors including Doordash CEO and co-founder Tony Xu, super models Jasmine Tooks and Karlie Kloss, Rent the Runway co-founder Jenny Fleiss, and Poshmark CEO and co-founder Manish Chandra.
Wang used the word “aligned” to describe her fundraising process and leaned heavily on the network she amassed while working in various tech roles throughout her career. She’s a Harvard engineer by training and has invested in numerous companies, served as a technical advisor to brands, and also held roles at investment firms.
Years ago, for example, she was an intern at Doordash and previously volunteered on Karlie Kloss’ podcast “Kode with Klossy.”
“I am still actively coding every day and learning from our team and technical advisors,” she said.
Wang said the fresh capital will be used to grow the team and fund more research and development. “Our team is continuously updating our in-house models and improving the experience based on community feedback,” she said.
Alta has already struck a partnership with the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) to offer Alta to its membership base. Wang used to live in San Francisco but relocated to New York to help build out the technology. “NYC is also a closer flight to Paris than SF,” she said, adding that LVMH and one of her angel investors, tech influencer Zita d’Hautville, is helping the company expand throughout Europe.
Alta is also working with Marie Kondo as the company also expands throughout parts of Oceania and the Pacific.
The plan is to next look at partnering with retailers worldwide.
“Many of the most exciting consumer AI companies are being started in NYC,” Wang continued, adding that she’s assembled a highly technical but also fashion-obsessed team. This startup is her dream come true.
