Evrythng, the startup helping companies like Puma and Ralph Lauren give their products digital identities, has raised $10 million, bringing its total funding to date to $60 million.
The New York- and London-based firm says it will use the fresh infusion of funds to expand its capabilities in end-to-end supply-chain traceability, develop its machine-learning prowess, augment its global presence and add new talent.
Brands and retailers use Evrythng’s Product Cloud to digitize their products at scale with Active Digital Identity, offering insights into each item at every touch point along the supply chain, from factory line to finished goods on store shelves. And given the disruption brought on by the coronavirus crisis, many companies are renewing their interest in bringing their supply chains into the digital era, especially with commerce migrating from bricks to clicks.
Fashion in particular is eyeing the alt-commerce opportunity that digitization enables. Evrythng CEO Niall Murphy says the company “is seeing increasing interest from apparel and retail brands in engaging in the resale market, motivated by a desire to extend relationships with consumers and to capture opportunities to participate both in the resale transaction and reduce their costs of customer acquisition.” Many, he told Sourcing Journal, are showing increased interest in recycling as brands look to gather more customer information, attract consumers back to retail, and to upcycle materials.
“The motivation to digitize products is certainly being driven in part by a desire to scale directly to consumer e-commerce channels,” Murphy added. “Brands are also focused on improving their visibility across their supply chain for cost efficiency and to improve the agility of their operations, and to reduce losses to brand integrity from threats including parallel trade, counterfeit and shrinkage using traceability analytics and data science.”
Related Stories
Though many apparel players realize the need to digitize their products and process, some face an uphill battle on more than one front. “Digitization does require some organizational change,” Murphy admitted. “Covid has weakened balance sheets for many apparel and retail apparel brands, which ironically has made some more cautious about making investments at a time when digitization presents a key path to surviving and thriving.”
The coronavirus pandemic might exaggerate the gap between the weak and the strong—and those that will be around for the long haul. “Indeed, a number of major brands are accelerating their digitization agenda to further their market share,” Murphy said, “while others are retracting.”
Evrythng attracted a variety of investors in its latest funding round, including Toronto-based Generation Ventures, San Francisco-based Sway Ventures, New York-based Fernbrook Capital and You & Mr Jones, Copenhagen-based IDC Ventures, London-based Bloc Ventures and other private groups.