Fashion Tech Startups Attract Venture Capital Funding

The Fashion AI Expo's launch at Paris Fashion Week 2026 marks the industry's tech transformation.

Published on Mar. 7, 2026

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The venture capital industry has been pouring money into fashion tech startups in recent years, with funding to companies at the intersection of artificial intelligence and apparel holding steady at around $100 million annually since 2022. This trend reflects the growing importance of data and technology in the fashion industry, as startups focused on AI-powered design, trend forecasting, personalized shopping, and sustainable supply chain management have attracted significant investment. The launch of the Fashion AI Expo at Paris Fashion Week 2026 is a milestone that symbolizes the industry's tech transformation.

Why it matters

The fashion industry's shift towards data and technology has significant implications for the future of the industry. As fashion becomes more data-driven, startups that can leverage AI and other technologies to improve design, forecasting, and customer experience are poised to disrupt traditional fashion business models. This trend also raises questions about the role of human creativity and the potential impact of AI-generated designs on the industry's cultural significance.

The details

The venture capital funding to fashion tech startups has been driven by the massive scale of the global apparel market, which is estimated to be worth $1.8 trillion annually and projected to reach $2.3 trillion by 2030. Investors are particularly interested in startups that treat fashion as a data problem, such as tools for AI-powered design, trend forecasting, personalized discovery, and sustainable supply chain management. These companies are raising roughly three times more funding than traditional fashion startups, as investors view them as software plays rather than retail businesses.

  • In June 2024, Daydream, an AI-powered shopping discovery platform, announced a $50 million seed round.
  • In January 2025, Andreessen Horowitz led a $24 million Series A in Raspberry AI, a generative AI platform for fashion designers.
  • In Q1 2024, funding for fashion tech startups broadly dropped 68% year-over-year to $422 million across 44 rounds, compared with $1.32 billion across 102 rounds in Q1 2023.
  • The global AI-generated fashion market was valued at $2.14 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach $75.9 billion by 2035, at a compound annual growth rate of 38.6%.
  • The Fashion AI Expo debuted during Paris Fashion Week in March 2026.

The players

Daydream

An AI-powered shopping discovery platform founded by e-commerce veteran Julie Bornstein.

Raspberry AI

A New York-based generative AI platform for fashion designers founded by Cheryl Liu in 2022.

Heuritech

A Paris-based AI trend forecasting platform founded in 2013 by two machine learning PhDs from Sorbonne University.

Launchmetrics

A brand performance analytics platform that raised $54 million in venture funding and was later acquired by industrial software company Lectra.

Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode (FHCM)

The organization that organizes Paris Fashion Week.

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What they’re saying

“Our models track everything from runway shows to social media. We have a massive scale of data that allows our AI to detect early signals of trends, sometimes months before they become visible on the mainstream market.”

— Noémie Voyer, Fashion expertise lead at Heuritech (NPR)

“While our AI is extremely sophisticated, the human [aspect] still remains essential.”

— Noémie Voyer, Fashion expertise lead at Heuritech (NPR)

“The comprehensiveness and technical depth of the platform have led to strong customer love and some of the strongest engagement metrics we've seen for AI tools. We believe that Raspberry AI will rapidly scale and transform the way creative teams design and develop retail products.”

— Bryan Kim, Partner at Andreessen Horowitz (Andreessen Horowitz investment announcement)

What’s next

The Fashion AI Expo is expected to become a recurring global meeting point for the fashion-tech ecosystem, further solidifying the industry's embrace of technology and data-driven innovation.

The takeaway

The influx of venture capital funding into fashion tech startups reflects the industry's transformation into a data-driven business. As AI and other technologies become increasingly integrated into fashion design, forecasting, and customer experience, the industry is poised for significant disruption, raising questions about the balance between human creativity and technological innovation.