Unmade raises £4.75m in new funding round

Fashion software start-up Unmade has raised £4.75m in a new funding round led by Octopus Ventures, with additional funding provided by Felix Capital and MMC Ventures, as well as existing investors.

Unmade plans to use the funds for its continued global expansion and development of its technology, which allows brands to offer customisable products and manufacture the results.

The firm's London-based team has made considerable strides in the past year to offer print customisation alongside its knitwear solution and signed its first "team wear" customer, Rapha Custom, the premium cycling brand.

It was founded by Hal Watts, Kirsty Emery-Laws and Ben Alun-Jones who set out with a mission to reimagine both the design and manufacturing processes within the fashion industry, so brands only made what was actually sold.

In addition to Rapha, earlier partners of the company include Opening Ceremony, Farfetch, Christopher Raeburn and Selfridges.

To date, Unmade has raised £10 million with earlier round investors including Connect Ventures and Felix Capital as well as leaders from the fashion and retail industries, such as Sian Westerman, President of Business and Investment Pillars of the British Fashion Council; José Neves, Founder and CEO of Farfetch; and Christopher Suarez, co-founder and former CEO of Nicholas Kirkwood.

Zoe Chambers, Future of Industry lead, Octopus Ventures, said: “With fashion brands and consumers increasingly conscious of wastage and un-sold stock arising from mass production and mass consumption in the fashion industry, Unmade is showing itself to be a pioneer, delivering much-needed disruption in the industry by using technology to offer demand-driven manufacturing.

"Unmade has already seen rapid growth this year, with its recent team wear launch proving a resounding success, and we expect to see this continue as the company further develops its on-demand supply chain offering. We are delighted to be joining Unmade at such a crucial time in its journey and look forward to working with this fantastic team.”

Hal Watts, CEO and co-founder, Unmade, added: “We have an ambitious roadmap for the future of Unmade and we’re delighted to have the support of the team at Octopus Ventures, who understand our vision for a more efficient and sustainable fashion industry."