For years, large companies such as Amazon and Google have tried to make virtual trial-on appealing to encourage consumers to shop more online. The startup also tried to solve inspiration and use AI to fit into fashion.
A new startup called Doji is in this space with apps designed to make apparel both fun and social. Do this by creating an avatar and offering a variety of looks that may encourage you to buy new clothes.
So far, early adopters have been impressed with that.
Just a few days after it was released on the App Store, the company is unveiling a $14 million seed round led by Thrive Capital, with participation from Seven Seven Six Ventures. The funding will be used to improve Doji’s AI model, the company said.
Apps like Doji exist only thanks to recent advances in AI. The company uses its own diffusion model to create personalized avatars, making clothing more realistic.
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Please give it a try. Try doji. Download the app to secure a spot or find friends for your invitation. [Link in bio] Creative direction: GUI BoucherEdited by: Noel Oppliger, Khaidar Styling: Jeanette Reza Music: Thank you Jake Nadrich: Tony Wang, Gaia Del Santo, Dena Yago
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The startup was founded last year by Dorian Dargan and Jim Winkens. So it’s called Kuji (Durian + Jim).
Dargan previously worked at Apple on Visionos and Meta on gaming and Oculus Quest experiences. Winkens is a researcher at DeepMind and is also working on Google’s generative AI-based consumer products.
The duo was connected on Twitter/X around 2022. After realising that they had a common interest in the fashion world, they began exploring side projects to work together. Later, when the controversial avatar creation app Rensa was released, Dargan saw how deeply connected people had to their avatars.
“Renza was doing avatar stylized on a variety of themes,” Dargan told TechCrunch. “What if we could look at Rensa and do this for fashion?
Miles Grimshaw of Thrive Capital Partner said he has been fascinated by Doji’s app since he first used it. He points out that diffusion models create opportunities to build “virtual mirrors” to try on clothes.
“It’s a hassle to go around the web with hundreds of click links to shops. Cruelty has the opportunity to make shopping fun because they’re at the heart of the experience. There’s also the social aspect of the app, where you want to share a variety of looks. [with friends and family]He added.
What is it like to use Doji apps?
Still in invite-only mode, doji will guide you through the process of taking six selfies and uploading two full-body images to create an avatar. The app takes about 30 minutes to create an avatar and will notify you when the avatar is ready. You can also select your favorite brand while onboarding and see more items in the app.
Other apps, like Google-backed lockscreen apps, have tried to create AI-powered shopping inspiration flows using a single image. However, Doji has chosen a more detailed setup process to create a higher quality avatar and better match users with the right clothing.
By default, the app shows clothes that may suit you through a set of looks with the avatar. You can scroll through the various tops and bottoms listed on the site and tap to create a new look for your avatar.
Plus, you can post a link to apparel from the web to see if it’s right for you.
On my test, I felt that some of the avatar images looked thinner and taller than me. (Note that doji has the option to retrain the avatar via a new set of images if the user doesn’t like the results.)
With this app you can try on different clothes to see what a particular apparel looks like, but we still don’t know how the items fit. That’s something startups want to tackle later, we say.
Additionally, instead of pointing users to external sites, the team is working to make the virtual Tryon process faster and integrate the purchasing process into the app.
Startups with apps available in over 80 countries did not specify when to remove the invitation system so that everyone can use the app.
Dargan said what stands out from other Tryon apps is that doji also offers a fun way to explore clothes. Moreover, he believes that due to years of experience designing avatars, Kuzi believes that human representation is superior to others.
“Some people who have previously explored the idea didn’t have the technology chops to make it better, or they understand the taste of understanding how people actually feel better about their own image,” Dargan said. “We have invested a lot in our core technology to ensure we have a way of perceiving ourselves through images.
