Tech Tuesdays: Aetrex Teams With Bauer Hockey + 6 Women-Led Businesses Join Tech Startup Program
Six Women-led, B2B Startups Join Tech Program
The New York Fashion Tech Lab has unveiled the 2024 Cohort, which features six women-led, business-to-business retail technology start-ups. This is the 11th cohort to go through the program.
The New York Fashion Tech Lab, a nonprofit that was created in 2014 by Springboard Enterprises, is done in collaboration with leading retailers and brands in support of the 12-week program. This year’s cohort includes Curated for You, Flock, Fairly Made, Nectar AI, Raspberry AI and Yofi.
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Organizers of the program said the returning retail and brand partners include the J. Crew Group, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, Selfridges & Co., The TJX Cos. and Tapestry and are joined by first-year partners Lululemon, MCM Worldwide and the Neiman Marcus Group. Last month, executives from the partner companies gathered to review finalists, of which six were chosen for the program.
The New York Fashion Tech Lab will be in residence at Spring Place with the annual Closing Demo Day Experiential event taking place on June 18 at Lavan. Like prior years, the underpinning themes and tech solution areas of the applicants and finalists reflect the needs of today’s fashion retailing.
Jackie Trebilcock, managing director of the New York Fashion Tech Lab, said, “In the ever-evolving landscape of innovation, each year prompts the question: what are the ‘themes’ of the lab? The themes start to emerge initially via the application pool and ultimately are revealed once the cohort is selected. The above companies reflect the 2024 themes of social commerce, personalization, fraud/returns protection, visual commerce, AI design/merchandising and sustainability impact.”
Trebilcock said since its inception, the New York Fashion Tech Lab has served as a catalyst for women-led businesses, empowering 75 innovative companies, which include Obsess, Eon, FindMe, Buywith, Dress, Reflaunt and Save Your Wardrobe, among others.
“Following their involvement in the program, these companies have flourished independently, achieving notable milestones such as forming strategic alliances with top retailers, securing substantial investments, and being subject to noteworthy acquisitions,” organizers of the program said in a statement.
A Great Fit
Aetrex, the foot scanning tech company, has teamed up with Bauer Hockey to roll out Bauer FitLabs this summer to 420 retailers in the U.S., Canada and Europe.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
In a statement, the companies said both “are relentlessly focused on innovation and performance.” And Larry Schwartz, chief executive officer of Aetrex, described the partnership as a “perfect marriage.”
“Bauer has an unwavering pursuit to invent, experiment and push limits in the hockey industry,” Schwartz said. “At Aetrex, technology is at the core of everything we do. We are thrilled Bauer has decided to partner with us to upgrade their 3D fit technology solutions to better serve their customers and athletes at all levels.”
Aetrex said Bauer FitLabs is a progressive in-store 3D foot scanning station that is “equipped with Aetrex’s Albert 2 Pro scanners” and will identify an athlete’s “unique foot type and provide personalized orthotic and skate recommendations for ideal fit and performance.”
The tech company said that the 3D fit solution aims “to revolutionize the hockey skate and orthotic fitting process” via a 20-second scanning experience that will provide athletes “with complete data about their unique feet and gait.” As a result, athletes will gain a deeper understanding “of their unique foot characteristics and will receive product solutions tailored to their individual needs for ideal fit and performance.”
John Davidson, director of brand management at Bauer Hockey, said innovation is at the heart of Bauer Hockey, “and the FitLab is another example of our commitment to pushing the game forward. The trend towards a more personal and customized skate fitting process continues to grow in importance for players at all levels. Through our partnership with Aetrex, we can elevate the standards of skate fitting, while bringing the overall experience to a new level.”
Cart.com Adds AI Integration
After the launch of the company’s Constellation Order Management System (OMS), Cart.com has added the integration of Constellation AI, which is a suite of AI features that will be embedded across the company’s software, services and logistic technologies. Cart.com’s solutions empower merchants to sell and fulfill orders in a true omnichannel way.
With the integration of Constellation AI, Cart.com aims to deliver enhanced forecasting aimed at driving informed inventory planning, the company said.
Omair Tariq, founder and chief executive officer of Cart.com, said by “harnessing the power of data and AI across the full commerce value chain, we are taking the guesswork out of marketing products and managing inventory. We’re excited to see how our continued investment in new AI capabilities will deliver value to our entire customer base.”
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