Fashion Technology Accelerator

FTA INVESTS IN THE ISRAELI STARTUP THAT REVOLUTIONIZES THE ONLINE SHOPPING EXPERIENCE

Askourt, a startup founded in Israel in 2015 by Tomer Limoey, has joined today the portfolio of Fashion Technology Accelerator (FTA - Milan), with an ambitious plan to penetrate the Made in Italy fashion and luxury market.

Milan, 28 April 2016 - If online sales are expected to grow with a yearly average of 10% rate until 2020, the fashion e-commerce stores are still struggling with very low conversion rates.

According to Askourt, the Israeli startup founded in 2015 by Tomer Limoey, one reason for the low conversion rate of e-commerce store from visitors into customers is the lack of the "social" component during the purchasing process. While in the physical stores a customer can rely on the feedbacks from store assistants and friends, the online shopping process provides the customer a solitary, with no immediate feedback, and less fun experience. This usually causes the potential customer to leave the store without terminating the purchase.

Askourt has solved this problem with a simple plugin that can be easily installed on any e-commerce website. Through this plugin any customer can get advices directly and privately from their friends via a message on Facebook Messanger, WhatsApp or SMS, without the need to share it publically. And, all this without the user leaving the site or installing an additional app.

By using WhatsApp and SMS, Askourt becomes also the perfect solution for mobile commerce (m-commerce). Askourt indeed can encourage m-commerce which, according to a recent Business Insider report, will represents in 4 years the 45% of total sales by e- commerce, but that currently have an even lower conversion than desktop sales.

"We are proud to be the first Israeli startup to join FT Accelerator in Milan, home of many international fashion brands. With our technology and FTA deep understanding of the fashion world and its needs, we are in the position to become the global market leader". said Tomer Limoey, the founder of Askourt.

Giusy Cannone, Managing Director of FTA is excited about the project. "Only 14% of people trust advertisements, while 78% trust the recommendations received from its friends. Askourt makes social recommendation a strategic factor to increase sales of e-commerce sites"

The FTA - Milan portfolio can count, with the entry of Askourt, on eight companies.

Only a few weeks ago FTA has announced that an American company, DEO VERITAS, has joined the portfolio, making the Milan FTA accelerator portfolio increasingly international.

FTA has recently opened a new round of application to engage new startups bringing innovations to the fashion, the retail and luxury industry.

Startups can apply through by 31 May via the link: http://www.ftaccelerator.it/what-we-do/acceleration-program/

In Detail

Fashion Technology Accelerator was originally founded in Silicon Valley (CA) in 2012 and is present in Milan and Seoul (S. Korea).

FTA’s has a deep understanding of the market factors that drive the luxury / fashion industry as well as an international network of experts, which accelerate business growth by removing the obstacles and bottlenecks that typically hinder startups.

For further information: http://www.ftaccelerator.it 

Who We Are

FTA was founded by Enrico Beltramini, who was a member of the Board Gucci, Executive Gucci, Fiat, Rinascente Group and PA Consulting Group in New York, Turin, Milan and London. He is an active investor and strategic advisor to technology startups in Silicon Valley. In 2013 he also started an investment fund, Naxuri Capital, focused on Fashion Technology.

Co-founder and Managing Partner of FTA Milan's Paolo Ivancevich, with a long career in finance: he was member of the Board of Investment Companies, Banks and Companies Asset Management, Executive Manager in major Italian banks, including Banco di Napoli and Banco di Sicilia and CEO of Diners Club Europe. He’s founder and CEO of Captha, training companies in banking and finance and Novenero, corporate finance advisory firm.

Managing Director of FTA is Giusy Cannone. Previously, she was Investment Manager at Italian Angels for Growth, the largest business angel group in Italy. Among previous experiences, she worked at the Innovation department of Intesa Sanpaolo, managing Startup Initiatives.

For Further Information:

Simone Ivancevich
sivancevich@ftaccelerator.com

Caricato il 02/05/2016

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