What was the catalyst for launching the Hey Savi?
[Victoria] Sarah and I were catching up over lunch last summer and she mentioned a brilliant business idea she had been brewing for some time. I immediately fell in love with the idea of creating a much more personalised approach to the way we search and shop online. Our research showed that there was huge market potential for a company like Hey Savi. With my experience in starting and exiting businesses, coupled with Sarah’s experience in scaling large scale global businesses, we knew we had a winning formula.
The one thing we were missing was the technical experience of developing and building the platform in order to bring the business to life. This is when we brought Angela on board. Her experience of creating game-changing consumer products for companies such as Vinted, Farfetch, Apple and Sephora is second to none and her passion for product excellence is the perfect fit for Hey Savi. As a trio, we have a joint passion to build an outstanding company culture which attracts the biggest talent in fashion tech.
Tell me about the business – what it is, what it aims to achieve, who you work with, how you reach customers and so on?
[Angela] Over 10,000 fashion searches are made every minute in the UK alone, yet the truth is that search functionality for online shopping has not changed since the internet began! The challenge customers face today is that search engines will always prioritise their business models of paid advertising, rather than delivering accurate and relevant results to online shoppers.
The emergence of transformational technologies, including AI, combined with a growing shift in customer expectations, provides a huge opportunity to reconnect shoppers with retailers. The combination of an enormous market opportunity and the clear customer need for a more personalised online shopping experience is our driving force for Hey Savi.
Using advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) alongside unique customer and fashion data, Hey Savi will completely reshape the way fashion lovers search and shop online, delivering a highly personalised solution for customers to find and buy their perfect outfit. It’s going to be a gamechanger in the fashion technology space.
Tell us about the working culture at Hey Savi?
[Sarah] Being female founded is hugely important to us, we have not taken for granted how hard it is for women to get investment, especially at pre-seed. We have surrounded ourselves with incredible advisors and angels that stand behind us and are supporting us to create a great product and a great place to work. All three of us are passionate advocates and champions of D&I and it’s important to us that our customers are represented by the people building their product, therefore our Data Science, Engineering, Product Design and Research leads are women. They are unrivalled leaders in their field, and we are thrilled to have them in our team.
Between the three of us we have had a variety of workplace experiences from small businesses to large corporations. That experience has built a very clear picture of the type of culture that we want to build and ways of working that mirror our company values. We want to attract people that are pioneering, transparent, open, and most importantly, fun! Having a strong culture at Hey Savi is critical to us and our business. We will be continually working hard to make sure it runs through every part of our organisation by hiring and nurturing the best talent to ensure that we build the most innovative and rewarding place to work.
How are you funded?
[Victoria] We recently raised just over £2M at pre-seed stage through a number of well-respected angels from Boardwave, Founders Capital and the WITSEND community. We’re also supported by an industry leading advisory board including Gareth Jones, Chief Marketing Officer at Sotheby’s, ex-CMO at eBay and Farfetch, Robin Sutara, Chief Data Officer at Databricks, ex-Chief Data Officer at Microsoft and Richard Goold, Partner at Wilson Sonsini.
What has been your biggest challenge so far and how have you overcome this?
[Sarah] Our biggest challenge is getting to market with a MLP (Minimum Lovable Product) as fast as possible. We’re clear that there is a gap in the market that we need to fill quickly, it is our goal to be an early mover and gain market share. 80% of our investment is being spent on creating the product so every decision that we make is critical for the long- and short-term success of the business. Hiring takes time as senior people have long notice periods; however, we have now filled our critical leadership roles, and have an advantage for the next round of hires due to the abundance of talented people now available in the fashion tech space.
How does Hey Savi answer an unmet need?
[Victoria] Hey Savi is a matchmaker, finding the item(s) customers want and connecting them directly with the seller who has it. We are brand and retailer agnostic, so there is no bias from us, our independence ensures that we will propose the exact item that the customer wants within their price range, size, and individual requirements.
What’s in store for the future?
[Angela] We’re now full steam ahead on research, customer testing, and iterative product development. We know there is a huge opportunity with solving both Search and Recommendations, but creating an amazing experience that truly meets customer needs requires immense dedication.
We are really getting to know our customers and developing specifically for them, mapping out the customer journey and understanding mindsets, which means we have lots of great ideas for our initial launch and for the future. In terms of big ideas, we’ll also be looking to truly solve size and fit, something that’s been a challenge since the beginning of e-commerce. Alongside this, we’re continuing to hire and grow our team in the run up to early 2025 where we will be officially launching Hey Savi to the world. So, watch this space!
What one piece of advice would you give other founders or future founders?
[Sarah] Be prepared. Any event that you go to, passing conversations that you have, introductions that are made, be ready to quickly and succinctly explain what you do, but more importantly, why you believe in it. People buy people in the early stages; your energy and passion will translate.
[Angela] Focus on solving real problems for real people. The number of companies who build something and then go hunting for an audience is mind-boggling. If you spend time with people and really listen and want to understand their needs you’ll find a lot of real opportunities, and if you keep your customers close, you’ll be able to learn quickly if your solutions work for them. If things don’t work, keep listening, learning, and trying new things. If they do work–move as fast as you can!
[Victoria] It’s all about the people. Our motto at Hey Savi when hiring is “if it’s not a hell yes, then it’s a definite no”. Take your time when hiring – your people are the company, so hire slow and fire fast.
Victoria Peppiatt, Angela Vinci & Sarah Daniel are the Founders of Hey Savi.