What's Next in Fashion Search? Now that International Women's Day has passed this March, we reflect on the incredible strides women continue to make in every industry, including technology.

In 2024, Hey Savi, a UK-based fashion search engine, made headlines as the second-ever fully female-founded tech company in the country to raise over £2 million at the pre-seed stage. The team behind this achievement consists of three visionary women: Sarah Daniel, Angela Vinci, and Victoria Peppiatt. They're not just reshaping fashion e-commerce; they're changing the way we search for fashion online.

Entrepreneur UK sat down with the founders to discuss how their platform challenges, the status quo of fashion search, what it means to be a female-led tech company, and their vision for the future of online fashion discovery.

When asked why fashion search has remained outdated, Daniel, co-founder and co-CEO, explained: "The search market has been monopolized for so long that people have become used to accepting sub-par results as the norm. As consumers, we're overwhelmed with so much information, and it's often difficult to find what you're looking for without being served paid results that benefit the search engine, not the customer."

For Daniel and her team, this issue was a key driver behind the creation of Hey Savi. "While building Hey Savi, we conducted extensive research to understand the pain points consumers face when shopping online. The advancements of AI allow us to use data to give customers a personalized experience," she added. Daniel highlighted a significant flaw in fashion search: many search engines are not designed with the fashion consumer in mind. "Large language models are generalist and not specific to fashion aesthetics. Fashion and identity are personal and unique to each individual. Shopping should be fun, not frustrating," she explained.

Hey Savi's challenge to fashion search
How does Hey Savi plan to compete with platforms like Google? Vinci, the company's Chief Product and Technology officer, critiqued the current search environment: "Google is more of an advertising platform than a search engine. With their pay-for-play system, customers have to wade through paid ads, making it hard to find what they want."

Hey Savi stands apart due to its independence from advertising. "One of our competitive advantages is that Hey Savi is an independent platform. We connect every customer with every retailer without relying on advertising or paid placements," Vinci said. "We like to call ourselves a fashion matchmaker because we find customers the exact product they're looking for and connect them directly with retailers who have it in stock, in their size, at the best price." This focus on consumer satisfaction gives Hey Savi a distinct edge. Vinci continued, "Because we understand what our customer wants, we can provide the most relevant results every time. We are taking the time, effort, and frustration out of search, giving our customers control, satisfaction, and making online shopping as fun and exploratory as in-store shopping."

The power of a female-led team
As a fully female-founded company, Hey Savi is breaking barriers in both tech and fashion industries. Peppiatt, the company's co-CEO, emphasised the importance of creating a product that resonates with women: "It was imperative for us to create a product for women that's built by women. Not only is Hey Savi female-founded, but we're also proud to have an all-female leadership team, which is almost unheard of in tech."

The team's gender-based perspective extends to their mission of promoting female entrepreneurship. "Female founders get less than 2% of VC funding, which is shockingly low, even though research shows £250 billion could be added to the UK economy if women started businesses at the same rate as men," Peppiatt said. "When we founded Hey Savi, we knew fundraising would be tough, but we've had incredible support. In July 2024, we closed our first round of funding, raising £2.2 million, making us only the 2nd fully female-founded UK tech company to raise over £2m at pre-seed stage."

Peppiatt credits invaluable communities like Boardwave, WITSEND, and Founders Capital for their support in navigating this journey. "So much of the support has come from the fact that we're not afraid to ask for help," she said. "People are willing to go the extra mile to help if you lead with openness and transparency."

As Hey Savi looks to drive adoption among consumers and retailers, Daniel emphasised the importance of building a community. "Community and creating fandoms will be key for us. For Hey Savi to become the most trusted fashion search engine in the world, we need to create an environment that becomes part of our customers' daily activities." She added, "As a research-led tech company, our customer insights have given us a detailed view of their needs. We ensure we build a product that customers love and adore. We are creating a space for women to find their confidence, take the pain out of shopping, and have fun." Retailers will also benefit from Hey Savi's approach, as the traffic they receive will be pre-qualified and more likely to convert. "Retailers will benefit massively from Hey Savi. The traffic we send them will be pre-qualified, so it naturally converts at a much higher rate than traditional search channels," Daniel explained.

Looking to the future
Looking ahead, the founders see opportunities in the evolving landscape of online fashion discovery. Vinci sees AI as a driving force in this transformation. "Generative AI is in a rush, but few real-world use cases solve specific customer problems," she said. "Hey Savi is leading the category by using AI to do the time-consuming search for customers, ensuring they find the exact item they're looking for, in stock, at the best price."

The team envisions a future with more personalization and exciting tech, including virtual try-ons. "Our vision for the product is much bigger than search," Vinci said. "Imagine a world where you're constantly inspired and can discover new styles and brands that make you look and feel incredible. We see a future with virtual try-on technology, allowing customers to try on from multiple retailers and brands in one environment, giving confidence to women, no matter their body size or shape." Peppiatt wrapped up the conversation by expressing the team's drive for success: "Never have you seen three more determined women on a mission to change the way people search and shop online."