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Retail tech startup Stylitics acquires Wide Eyes

Richard Collings
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Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

Stylitics, a New York-based provider of digital merchandising and styling software, acquired Wide Eyes Technologies, a visual search engine platform, Stylitics CEO Rohan Deuskar tells Axios exclusively.

Why it matters: The transaction boosts Stylitics' platform by adding AI-enabled image recognition and search capabilities.

Details: While Deuskar declined to comment on the deal's terms, Wide Eyes had raised a total of $2 million and had a post-money valuation of more than $6 million as of 2018, per PitchBook.

  • As for the process, Wide Eyes wasn't looking for a buyer, he says.
  • Stylitics came across Wide Eyes during its search for enabling technologies and approached the company directly, resulting in a deal.

How it works: Based in Barcelona, Wide Eyes was founded in 2013 and has built tech able to scan and accurately identify products in product images, street-style images, or user-generated images.

  • In mapping back the existing images to the product catalog, you can make everything shoppable, Deuskar says.
  • Wide Eyes' tech, as a result, improves product discovery and conversion.
  • In addition, Wide Eyes provides a European base from which to service its customers in that geography.

What they're saying: "The shopper experience has not changed in a very long time," Deuskar says. "People look elsewhere, like TikTok or Instagram, for inspiration."

  • "Our mission is to elevate the shopper journey, to provide more guidance and inspiration, to make the digital shopping experience more inspiring, more personalized, more fun, more joyful," he says.

Catch up fast: Stylitics has raised about $100 million to date, including an $80 million Series C last year from growth equity firm PSG.

By the numbers: Stylitics says it has driven more than $4 billion in incremental revenue for its customers.

  • They include Macy’s, Kohl’s, Room & Board, Revolve and Puma.
  • It is also approaching 200 million shoppers per month via its retailers, Deuskar says.

What we're watching: Stylitics will likely reach an inflection point in about two years, at which point it will begin weighing strategic options such as a sale or IPO, Deuskar says.

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