Member Article

Revealed: The startups pairing with ASOS to bring AI and crowdfunding to ecommerce

Wayra UK and ASOS have revealed the three innovative startups who will be joining its inaugural retail tech accelerator programme in Central London.

Housed within Wayra’s academy in the capital, the ASOS-run accelerator programme is part of the online retailer’s commitment to support up-and-coming talent across its business, from technology to independent fashion labels and designers.

Its accelerator programme, which was announced back in August, looks to support startups whose innovations can improve ASOS’s services and user experience, and now the first three startups to benefit have been revealed.

London-based action.ai, Ukraine’s Wishround and Irish delivery firm Xpreso have fended off competition from other retail tech startups, and will now gain the usual accelerator benefits of mentoring from business coaches, links to investor networks and office space in Central London.

Following the announcement, Cliff Cohen, ASOS CIO, commented: “Fashion evolves incredibly quickly, as does technology, and we need to be ahead of trends in both sectors in order to best serve our customers and partners.

“These start-ups are each on the cutting-edge of fashion tech, and I hope that as a result of this accelerator programme they will not only disrupt existing processes, but also help ASOS in its mission to get the most exciting products to the consumer, in the most effective way.”

The startups

Westminster-based action.ai are tapping into the wider adoption of smart assistants to improve customer service, utilising artificial intelligence (AI) to building smart conversational interfaces.

Wishround has developed a social payment and group purchasing engine that it claims can cut down on returns, and allow users to crowdfund big purchases.

Delivery solutions firm Xpreso aims to solve ecommerce’s ‘last mile problem’ through its delivery platform which includes GPS tracking, customer messaging, delivery windows and other services.