Venturing into Fashion Tech

• VC Series: My Top 5 Insights from Conversations with an Investor

  Peter Jeun Ho Tsang unpacks his top 5 key takeaways from the VC Series in conversation with Rohan Bansal. He unpacks:No set path into fashion and retail tech venture capital – success requires building relevant experience and perspective rather than specific qualifications.The power of networks and relationships, crucial for both founders and investors to opening doors for funding and partnerships.Creating a winning pitch deck is essential when investors spend just three minutes reviewing it – clearly answer "why now" and "why you".Despite $3 billion in equity financing in 2024, there's a surprising lack of specialized fashion tech VC funds and a $20-30 billion annual funding gapSmart money versus hype – seek investors who provide strategic value beyond capital through connections to clients, experts and industry insights--------The show is recorded from Beyond Form, a fashion tech innovation platform. We build, invest, and educate fashion tech entrepreneurs and startups. We’d love to hear your feedback, so let us know if you’d like to hear a certain topic. Email us at [email protected]. If you’re an entrepreneur or fashion tech startup looking for studio support, check out our website: beyondform.io

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• VC Series: Why So Few Fashion & Retail Tech Funds? with Rohan Bansal

  Lack of Fashion & Retail Tech Funds:The fashion tech sector raised nearly $3 billion in 2024, yet there's a surprising lack of specialised VC funds focusing on this growing market despite proven exits and significant market potential. In this final guest episode with Rohan Bansal, he chats with Peter on what some of the blind spots are for many investors.The Struggle with Specialised VC Funds:• Generalist VCs lack specialised expertise in fashion industry dynamics and operations.• Traditional investors struggle to build the right networks for strong deal flow and exit opportunities.• An estimated $20-30 billion annual funding gap exists in fashion tech and closing this gap requires collaboration between corporate investors, government subsidies, accelerators and public funding.Connect with Rohan on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/rohan-bansal-50328179/--------The show is recorded from Beyond Form, a fashion tech innovation platform. We build, invest, and educate fashion tech entrepreneurs and startups. We’d love to hear your feedback, so let us know if you’d like to hear a certain topic. Email us at [email protected]. If you’re an entrepreneur or fashion tech startup looking for studio support, check out our website: beyondform.io

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• VC Series: Crafting the Perfect Investor Pitch Deck with Rohan Bansal

  The Perfect Investor Pitch Deck:The perfect investor pitch deck combines storytelling, market understanding, and founder credibility to stand out in the competitive venture capital landscape. Venture capitalists typically spend just over three minutes reviewing each deck, with only 1% securing funding. In this episode Peter and Rohan breakdown what makes a great deck and the red flags that investors see.Tips & Tricks Explored in this Episode:• Storytelling is crucial as humans connect with narratives and founders must demonstrate how their experience is relevant to the problem they're solving.• Market sizing should be realistic and calculated using a bottom-up approach.• Red flags include co-founders with too-similar backgrounds and unrealistic growth projections• A disorganised pitch deck often reflects disorganised thinking, and the questions "Why now?" and "Why you?" must be convincingly answered.Connect with Rohan on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/rohan-bansal-50328179/--------The show is recorded from Beyond Form, a fashion tech innovation platform. We build, invest, and educate fashion tech entrepreneurs and startups. We’d love to hear your feedback, so let us know if you’d like to hear a certain topic. Email us at [email protected]. If you’re an entrepreneur or fashion tech startup looking for studio support, check out our website: beyondform.io

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• VC Series: The Difference Between Early and Growth Stage Fashion Tech Startups w/ Rohan Bansal

  The Lifecycle of Fashion Tech Startups:This episode with guest speaker Rohan Bansal, he discussed with Beyond Form CEO Peter Jeun Ho Tsang the differences between early stage and growth stage companies and what it takes to secure funding at each level. Early-stage v.s. Growth Stage Fashion Tech:• The lifecycle: Pre-seed rounds typically fund companies with just an idea, while seed rounds support those with early traction and some revenue.• Series A represents a critical graduation point where investor expectations significantly change and growth stage companies need to demonstrate not just revenue growth but also a path to profitability.• Revenue expectations: European markets typically expect higher revenue thresholds (€150-200K) for seed funding compared to US markets. It's harder to get VC funding in 2025.• The investment landscape has shifted from "growth at all costs" to "growth with profitable costs" and fashion tech startups need to build positive signals to investors before fundraising.Connect with Rohan on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/rohan-bansal-50328179/--------The show is recorded from Beyond Form, a fashion tech innovation platform. We build, invest, and educate fashion tech entrepreneurs and startups. We’d love to hear your feedback, so let us know if you’d like to hear a certain topic. Email us at [email protected]. If you’re an entrepreneur or fashion tech startup looking for studio support, check out our website: beyondform.io

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• VC Series: How I Broke into VC Fashion & Retail Tech Investing with Rohan Bansal

  Rohan's journey into the VC industry: Rohan Bansal shares his journey into the venture capital world, sharing how his nomadic childhood across eight countries equipped him with the global perspective crucial for successful investing in fashion and retail tech.What you'll hear about VC investing:• Living in different countries provided Rohan with unique insights into market idiosyncrasies and consumer behaviours.• VC roles are highly competitive:  over 450 applications for each associate position and 40% of new VC hires in 2024 came from startup or tech backgrounds.• Key technologies transforming fashion retail include: AI for shopping personalisation, demand forecasting, and smart factories with IoT solutions for sustainable and cost-efficient production.• Emerging VCs should focus on long-term trends rather than following hype cycles and being a sector specialist could help outperform generalists in terms of investment returns.Connect with Rohan on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/rohan-bansal-50328179/--------The show is recorded from Beyond Form, a fashion tech innovation platform. We build, invest, and educate fashion tech entrepreneurs and startups. We’d love to hear your feedback, so let us know if you’d like to hear a certain topic. Email us at [email protected]. If you’re an entrepreneur or fashion tech startup looking for studio support, check out our website: beyondform.io

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