Airplane Pitch is Now a Reality: ArcticStartup Got Pitched by StyleGrid


    Sometime ago, me and a friend of mine were joking that once I get pitched in an airplane, it would mean that ArcticStartup is actually famous. Well, I got pitched on an airplane whilst on my way to the Dublin Web Summit. Too bad that the guy had no idea what ArcticStartup was, but it still counts, right?

    The whole situation showed how the startup community is evolving in the region. When Paulius Paskevicius, COO of Stylegrid, took a seat next to me, the first thing he asked was: “Are you going to the Web Summit?”.

    
Surprisingly, we were. So thanks to pure chance and the fact that the Nordic/Baltic startup community is becoming increasingly interwoven, there we were: Paulius from Lithuania, Max Yemelyanov the COO of Eegloo from Riga, and me from ArcticStartup (Born in USSR, Estonian Citizen, living in Finland). It was then that I knew just how vibrant the scene in the region is and how connected it has become.

    But this story is not about me, ArcticStartup or in fact the startup scene, but about Stylegrid. I could not resist writing about them not only because I have never been pitched in an airplane before, and could not really go anywhere for 3 hours, but also because the idea is pretty cool.

    The app aims to solve a problem of one of their co-founders, a girl with over 200 separate items in her wardrobe. She wanted to make her morning choices easier by allowing her friends to make suggestions on what to wear.

    Basically, you take the pictures of your wardrobe or let the app find the pictures from the websites of your favorite brands. It magically takes out the backgrounds and creates your wardrobe, which you can then mix and match or let people you trust make suggestions for you.

    The team received initial funding from Startup Monthly in the amount of EUR 45 000, which was used to participate in a Silicon Valley based accelerator for 3 months and build the beta version.

    Paulius told me that they “tried to make different shelves like in a wardrobe and give access to those you trust.” 

Of course, they needed to monetize and I think that their way might actually be beneficial for the user.

    What they want to do is to allow retailers to make suggestions for your wardrobe, if you let them. 

As Paulius commented, “It really make sense to allow someone from retail to give you some advice.” After all, they should know what they are doing.

    Currently they are in an invite-only beta, but if you apply right now, you will definitely be accepted. Check out the video below and let us know if you would share your wardrobe with your friend. Oh, and don’t forget to try and catch us on airplanes and the Dublin Web Summit.


    STYLEGRID app sneak peek from Mantas Eigirdas on Vimeo.

    Top Image Courtesy of Shutterstock // Businessman Airplane