The Founder Diaries is a new interview article series dedicated to business, innovation, and entrepreneurship. With experience in the fashion industry as a designer and stylist and having garnered a fresh perspective as an entrepreneur, there are vast amounts of knowledge and continuous learning that can be gained from engaging with various innovators, entrepreneurs, designers, and professionals across related creative sectors. The realms of fashion, business, and technology are rich with creativity and innovation, where individuals bravely rise to the challenge, devising inventive solutions to seemingly insurmountable problems. In a world rife with social, climate, and political issues, it is profoundly inspiring to witness individuals, companies, and organisations making a tangible difference.

In this week’s article, I interviewed the founder of GLO-UP, Reem Mohanty. GLO-UP is a promising and innovative AI-Powered fashion moodboard app. GLO-UP offers an inspirational moodboard experience to help users achieve iconic fashion looks through suggesting affordable and eco-friendly alternatives, addressing one of fashion industry’s biggest challenges head-on—fast fashion. In order to find out how Reem got started, how this intuitive app works, and what she sees as some of the biggest challenges in the current fashion and tech landscapes, here is the edited excerpts from our conversation.

Tell me about your background and what inspired you to create the app GLO-UP. How long has this project been in development?

I grew up in different parts of the world—India, Middle East, moved around a lot before I moved to the U.S. at the age of 18 for my college education. I got my bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from University of California San Diego. Throughout my academic journey, I excelled in physics and maths, which fueled my ambition in engineering and my passion for building. After graduation, I worked in the renewable energy space for a couple of years in San Diego and San Francisco.

The founding of GLO-UP stemmed from my passion for addressing global sustainability issues and personal struggles with fashion styling. I noticed a common frustration among people in deciding what to wear and needing constant fashion inspiration, leading to excessive clothing purchases and waste. Statistically speaking, the average American discards around 81 pounds of clothing per year. GLO-UP’s offering is an inspired, personalised fashion moodboard experience, helping users discover the endless possibilities of achieving iconic looks without ever splurging their money on fast fashion or mainstream brands involved in unsustainable practices. GLO-UP aims to make a valuable contribution to our planet by enticing the fashionista consumer to make conscious fashion choices without compromising on their fun, affordable, and eclectic shopping experience. The app itself has been in development since December 2023, so it has been 6 to 7 months in the making.

Can you walk me through the development process of the app? Does the app use pre-trained AI models, or did you develop and build everything from scratch? Can you provide some insight on the tech stack used?

The process began with market research to validate market size and initial interest. This involved analysing data from in-depth surveys of individuals matching the target market criteria. Wireframes for the app mockup (initial low-fidelity versions) were created, followed by user journey mapping. Using UX design methodology, the high-fidelity version of the app was completed in Figma. The front-end uses React, the back-end uses Node, data is stored in SQL, and cloud services are provided by AWS. For AI development, we are using Python with TensorFlow. Development and iteration are currently handled in-house by a core team of four, plus myself. While some AI training leverages existing models for efficiency, the majority of our work is built from scratch, as we are really dedicated to creating a quality experience for our users. With the current trajectory, the beta version for the MVP launch is set for 2 to 3 months from now.

Startups lie in a very special domain of their own. What were some of the biggest challenges you faced when creating GLO-UP? What are some of the biggest ongoing challenges, and how do you plan to solve them?

One of the biggest initial challenges is often securing funding and seed investments as well as networking within the right crowds. The value and challenges in the networking stage should never be overlooked or underestimated. In terms of securing valuable project funding, venture capital firms and investors like to see a good product retention rate, a low churn rate, and potential for scalability, which show evidence for strong market demand and big business potential. Professional background of the co-founders and the team behind the product play an equally critical role in convincing investors and VCs. I met Ben Bilbrough, a current director on GLO-UP’s board, through a networking event in New York. He has been an invaluable source for strategic guidance, product oversight, and stakeholder communications.

From a technical perspective, developing an AI model that creates a personalised fashion moodboard and styles outfits has been a major challenge. Additionally, ensuring the app performs efficiently with many users onboarding simultaneously requires investment in scalable cloud infrastructure as the user base expands. Another challenge for me personally has been finding the most suitable and dedicated co-founder for the project. It is crucial that the effort between co-founders is "100%, 100%" rather than "50%, 50%."

What inspired you to target the fashion crowd with your software product, rather than another industry? What sets your app apart from other fashion recommendation apps on the market?

GLO-UP distinguishes itself from other fashion apps by immersing users in a personalised experience through an intelligent, Pinterest-like interface. This interface identifies and remixes fashion looks based on the user's preferences learned during the sign-up stage and the preceding weeks. Users can stylishly reinvent their existing wardrobe, buy from affordable eco-friendly brands, or rent clothing for events instead of always buying new items. A key part of our strategy involves partnering with businesses that rent desirable and/or luxury, iconic fashion pieces to clients, with our adaptable and intuitive reach.

We aim to offer our customers freedom of choice without compromise. GLO-UP provides valuable suggestions based on users' habits and preferences, encouraging considerate fashion choices with significant environmental benefits. To ensure value for our users, the initial month focuses on training and personalising the user experience, offering better fashion styling inspiration. As a courtesy, this first month is free for our users.

Describe your main target audience in some more detail. What marketing strategies have worked the best so far in reaching these people?

In researching GLO-UP’s initial target market, it was crucial to validate my initial findings through surveys, interviews, and data analysis. Social media apps like Instagram proved invaluable for reaching potential GLO-UP users. My research revealed that 70% of the target audience is between 18 and 25 years old, predominantly from the Gen Z demographic. This validated my initial thoughts that younger people and certain demographics are more conscious and aware of fashion, styling, sustainability, and considerate fashion choices.

The surveys resonated with the tech-savvy generation, including college students, working professionals, stylists, and fashion influencers. Geographically, individuals from major fashion-centric cities such as Paris, Milan, New York, Barcelona, and London showed more openness to adopting GLO-UP. In Europe, for example in France, people are often very fashion-conscious and considerate in their fashion choices, eager to mix up their style for work and events, and deeply care about their appearance.

As the world changes, the demographic and target market can also adapt, so it’s important to keep updating findings through validated research.