Voonik, the online app-based fashion retailer, which recently introduced an image-search feature in line with other e-retail giants, has acqui-hired TrialKart which offers virtual dressing room experience to its users. The financial details related the the deal are not yet disclosed.
The company will now build a new division named “Image Intelligence”, consisting of members of TrialKart team. The team will develop technology which will help users to buy on Voonik’s shopping application. It will also offer virtual dressing room solution to customers.
TrialKart is just a five months old start-up which was founded by Vipul Divyanshu, Jayalakshmi Manohar and Harsha M. It was in a process of raising external funds while Voonik approached them for acquisition. Till now, the company was self-funded.
Sujayath Ali, CEO & Co-founder of Voonik, said,
They’ve cracked some tough problems in virtual fitting and that’s why we were interested in the company. E-commerce firms are gravitating towards product discovery and personalization. Image intelligence is key here.
Indian eCommerce firms, of late, have been looking to grow their technology know-how to make their platforms more user friendly. Flipkart recently introduced a new feature which allows users to search via images in the fashion category. Myntra is also working on new features that will use the mobile camera and other capabilities like location awareness, for more personalized recommendation.
Craftsvilla, an online portal which sells handicraft products has tied-up with MadStreetDen, a Chennai based start-up which is working on computer vision technology. With the tie-up, Craftvilla will introduce image search facility on its portal.
Voonik was founded in 2013 by Navaneetha Krishnan and Sujayath Ali. It provides a personal shopping platform that helps people dress well within their budget, by offering style advice and hand-selected recommendations, based on the customer’s style preferences and body type. Till now, the company has raised $5.5 million in 2 funding rounds from 3 investors.
