What inspired you to start Hey Savi?
[Victoria] Last summer, Sarah and I were catching up over lunch when she told me about a great business idea she’d been working on for a while. I was immediately captivated by the idea of creating a more personalized approach to the way people search and shop online. Our research showed us that there was huge market potential for a company like Hey Savi. Combining my experience starting and exiting businesses with Sarah’s experience scaling large, global businesses, I knew we had a winning formula.
What we were missing was the technical experience in developing and building platforms to power businesses, which is why we welcomed Angela to our team. She has incredible experience developing breakthrough consumer products for companies like Vinted, Farfetch, Apple and Sephora, and her passion for product excellence makes her a great fit for Hey Savi. The three of us share a passion for building a great company culture that attracts the best talent in fashion tech.
Tell us about your business: what it is, what you aim to achieve, who you work with, how you reach customers, etc.
[Angela] In the UK alone, over 10,000 fashion searches are made every minute, yet the reality is that the search function for online shopping has not changed since the beginning of the internet. The challenge customers face today is that search engines continue to prioritise paid advertising business models over providing accurate and relevant results for online shopping customers.
The emergence of transformative technologies such as AI, coupled with rising changes in customer expectations, is creating a huge opportunity to reconnect shoppers with retailers. The combination of a huge market opportunity and a clear customer need for a more personalized online shopping experience is what drives Hey Savi.
Hey Savi combines advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) with proprietary customer and fashion data to completely change the way fashion lovers search and shop online, providing highly personalized solutions to help customers find and purchase the perfect outfit – a move that will revolutionize the fashion technology sector.
Tell us about the work culture at Hey Savi.
[Sarah] Being founded by a woman is very important to us. We don’t underestimate how hard it is for women to get investment, especially at the pre-seed stage. We are surrounded by amazing advisors and angels who support us and help us create a great product and a great work environment. All three of us are passionate supporters and advocates of D&I, and it’s important to us that our customers are represented by the people building their products. That’s why our data science, engineering, product design, and research leaders are women. They are unparalleled leaders in their fields, and we’re thrilled to have them on our team.
The three of us have experience in a variety of workplaces, from small businesses to large corporations. That experience gave us a very clear picture of the type of culture we want to build and a way of working that reflects the company’s values. We want to attract people who are pioneering, transparent, open, and above all, fun. Building a strong culture at Hey Savi is very important to us and our business. We continuously strive to ensure that culture permeates every part of the organization by hiring and developing the best talent, building the most innovative and rewarding place to work.
How are you funded?
[Victoria] The company has recently raised just over £2m in pre-seed funding through Boardwave, Founders Capital and a number of prominent angel investors in the WITSEND community and is also backed by an industry-leading advisory board including Gareth Jones, Chief Marketing Officer at Sotheby’s and former CMO at eBay and Farfetch, Robin Sutara, Chief Data Officer at Databricks and former Chief Data Officer at Microsoft, and Richard Goold, Partner at Wilson Sonsini.
What has been your biggest challenge so far and how did you overcome it?
[Sarah] Our biggest challenge is to bring our MLP (Minimum Lovable Product) to market as quickly as possible. It is clear that there is a gap in the market that needs to be filled immediately and our goal is to be first to market and capture market share. 80% of our investment goes into developing the product, so every decision we make is critical to the long and short term success of the business. Hiring takes time as senior hires have long notice periods, but key leadership positions are already filled and the wealth of talent in the fashion tech space puts us in a strong position for the next hiring round.
How does Hey Savi address an unmet need?
[Victoria] Hey Savi is your matchmaker, finding the products you want and connecting you directly with the merchants who sell them. We are brand and retailer agnostic so we have no bias. Our independence allows us to suggest the exact products you want, within your price range, size and individual requirements.
What does the future hold?
[Angela] Today, we are fully committed to research, customer testing, and iterative product development. We know that solving for both search and recommendations presents a huge opportunity, but it takes a lot of dedication to create a great experience that truly meets our customers’ needs.
We truly understand our customers, develop specifically for them, map their behavior, and understand how they think. This means we have a ton of great ideas for our first launch and for the future. In terms of big ideas, we also aim to truly solve the size and fit problem, a challenge that has existed since the beginning of e-commerce. In parallel with this, we continue to hire and grow our team as we prepare to officially launch Hey Savi to the world in early 2025. Stay tuned.
What is one piece of advice you would give to other founders or future founders?
[Sarah] Be prepared. Every event you attend, conversation you have, introduction, be prepared to quickly and concisely explain what you do and, more importantly, why you believe in what you do. People buy into you early on – your energy and passion will come through.
[Angela] Focus on solving real problems for real people. It’s surprising how many companies build something and then start looking for customers. If you spend time with people, really listen, and try to understand their needs, you’ll find a lot of real opportunities. And if you stay close to your customers, you’ll know quickly if your solution works for them. Even if it doesn’t work, keep listening, learning, and trying new things. If it does work, act as soon as possible.
[Victoria] It all depends on your people. At Hey Savi, our hiring motto is “If it’s not a yes, it’s not a no”. Take your time when hiring. Your people are your company, so hire slowly and fire fast.
Victoria Peppiatt, Angela Vinci and Sarah Daniel are the founders of Hey Savi.
