We Are Challenges award presents the Fashion Tech prize to Nemmès
On May 30, creative and tech companies met for the We Are Challenges award ceremony organized by the venue dedicated to creativity and technology We Are and the Vivatech event. Two weeks before the big Viva Tech event, which will take place from June 15 to 18 at Porte de Versailles with 1,700 start-ups and 400 people expected to attend, the spotlight was on several promising start-ups that fuse technology with creativity selected out of 168 applications.
In the Fashion Tech category, five finalists were in the running under the engaging title: "The Future of Fashion". While for its first edition, the event targeted the secondhand market and rewarded the companies Luxurynsight and Faume, it also honored a start-up with an innovative business model that integrated emerging technologies. The jury, composed of investor Pierre Denis; Maeva Bessis, who runs La Caserne; the director of creative industries at BPIFrance Nicolas Parpex; Nicolas Santi-Weil, CEO of AMI; and Diaa Elyaacoubi, CEO of Monnier frères, selected the companies Isla Collective, Nemmès, Today We Are, Veesual and The Second Life. In the end, Nemmès received the 2022 award for its disruptive concept of being an accessible jewelry brand that provides customers the option to customize their pieces.
Founded by Arnault Daubresque, Julie Pascal and Quentin Leroy, Nemmès allows its customers to easily design their own rings, bracelets, earrings and pendants by selecting different criteria via its website or mobile app.
“This was our first time participating in this type of contest,” explained Daubresque. “The presentation was 10 minutes long and the question period should have been 5 minutes, but we exceeded it. It was very informative to be confronted with questions from well-known personalities. I think that what they appreciated was our unique concept of offering a genuinely custom-made product made locally since we work with workshops in France whereas the vast majority of accessible jewelry is made in Asia. It’s a combination of technology and know-how".
The members of the jury were not the only people to be seduced by Nemmès' products. The young brand, which employs a dozen people, is currently preparing its first pre-seed funding round with financial investors. This operation should allow the company to develop a technical solution to add stones onto its jewelry. For the moment, its pieces, which start at 69 euros, are made with renewable and recycled brass. Nemmès, which for the moment produces hundreds of pieces of jewelry each month, must now build on the success of its business model. This is an essential step for a young company that aspires to be the next Pandora.
Other candidates also proposed practical solutions for companies. The Second Life, for instance, offers real estate companies and brands solutions for recycling used clothing and reusing waste.
Veesual provides brands with tools that allow them to visualize the rendering of a collection on different types of models. The start-up launched this service together with La Redoute for women's lingerie with, for the moment, three different models (one model of sub-Saharan African origin, one of Asian origin and a curvy model of European origin). Additional profiles and product categories will be available to users in the near future.
Isla is an upcycling fashion marketplace that focuses on taking old clothing and giving them a new life. The company launched in 2020 has already carried out projects with Citadium and Fusalp and is looking to work with secondhand platforms.
Last but not least, Today We Are is a young start-up that is developing a marketplace based on live shopping technology and highlighting the performance of this sales channel in China, arguing that 1.5 million French people have participated in a virtual session in 2020.
During the evening, the company Pianity received the award for start-ups in Web 3.0 and creative industries and the company Vocalcoach was recognized for its innovative education technology solutions.
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