Fashion Tech: The First Annual Fashinvest Speed Dating Event

Truth Plus friend Karen Griffith Gryga and David Freschman of Fashinvest, the platform that brings together branded goods, retail, fashion, tech and finance, held their first ‘Speed Dating’ event this past Thursday, June 2nd at the offices of law firm Duane Morris. Participating entrepreneurs were able to sign up for a Pitch Workshop and/or a round-robbin Pitch Session with well-known angel investors, venture capitalists, industry execs and experts including Lawrence Lenihan of FirstMark Capital, Danny Schultz of DFJ Gotham, Charlie O’Donnell of First Round Capital, Liza Boyd of Highbridge Capital Management and Robin Harris of Iconix Brand Group,  among many others.

I only stopped by the Pitch Session, and not for long. The room was buzzing with anxious entrepreneurs, business plans and data in hand; and investors asking questions and giving guidance. Every few minutes, the entrepreneurs moved along to a new investor/advisor, making for a whirlwind of startup activity! Most of the startups appeared to be ventures that had already launched, and that are currently seeking feedback and additional investor dollars for growth. Although this type of event is commonplace to most tech entrepreneurs, it is far less so to the fashion/retail/branded goods and related tech industries. While the tech world has endless advisors, alpha testers, networking allies, investor contacts, platforms like TechCrunch and incubators like Y Combinator and General Assembly, the online and offline fashion world, though growing on a daily basis, has had categorically fewer resources. So here’s to Fashinvest for making strides towards bridging the gap.