Oxford startup Aistetic receives £1.2m to fund new AI fashion tool

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Daniel Face

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University of Oxford spinout Aistetic has received £1.2 million in funding for a tool which uses artificial intelligence to scan users’ bodies and provide accurate measurements for clothing.

The money comprises two grants from Innovate UK and another from Future Fashion Factory in partnership with the University of Leeds.

Founded in 2019 by Duncan McKay, MBA alongside Phil Torr, professor of computer vision and deep learning at the University of Oxford, Aistetic is looking to simplify the online shopping experience for both retailers and consumers.

McKay said: “I founded Aistetic with Phil Torr as I experienced the problem of poor-fitting clothes personally and we both felt that we could solve this with a technology solution.

“With the development of our patent-pending solution, we quickly realised that our purpose is bigger than that – we want to make next-gen 3D body modelling available to anyone with a mobile device.”

Low on code, the tool offered by Aistetic can be integrated into retailers’ websites with a single line of JavaScript. The measurements which users receive then correlate with clothing sizes specific to their chosen retailer.

McKay added: “Our next step is to develop a no code solution for Shopify customers – this will make our grey labelled solution entirely no code and available on Shopify’s app marketplace platform.”

It is estimated that the technology could reduce the rate of unwanted clothing returns by up to 30 per cent. This currently represents not only a large expense for online retailers, but also an environmental crisis, as the UN estimates that 10 per cent of global carbon emissions is contributed by the fashion sector.

With the benefit of its recent funding, this is a number which Aistetic hopes to begin combatting.

Daniel Face

Born and raised in Berkshire, Dan fell into journalism after completing his bachelor’s degree in English at UCL. Writing for The Business Magazine and local Biz News sites has given him the opportunity to chat with all manner of small business owners and share their success stories with a wider audience. Outside of work, Dan enjoys live music, board games and quiz shows, and is making a slow but persistent effort to learn Spanish.