Foundry Group Backs Fashion Inspiration Startup Looklist

Looklist has raised a small seed round to build out its “inspiration engine” for fashion and hair.

I know, I know, this sounds like a bunch of other fashion startups, not to mention one of the main reasons people use Pinterest. But founder and CEO Shaz Sedighzadeh said there’s really no good place to find curated images and search through through them based on factors like gender, temperature and length.

To do this, Sedighzadeh said Looklist employs a mix of tagging and curation, as well as its own weighting algorithm. And of course if you see something you like, you can save it, share it or search for similar items.

Sedighzadeh also claimed that some users from the fashion and hair industries are becoming disenchanted with Pinterest’s increasing focus on advertising, taking away from “a pure, organic approach to fashion.”

Of course, that’s a lot easier to say when you’re an early-stage startup that isn’t thinking too hard yet about monetization. And to be clear, Sedighzadeh isn’t going to shy away from making money.

“It’s more about just coddling the right users that love our platform,” he said.

Like other sites featuring fashion and lifestyle products, Looklist has an obvious connection to e-commerce. The startup’s also working with clothing boutiques and hair salons to create in-store displays.

The funding totals $174,000 and comes from Foundry Group (through its AngelList Syndicate). Sedighzadeh said he will use the money to build out the team and develop iOS apps.

In the funding release, Foundry Group Managing Director Seth Levine said Looklist is “cleaning up a very messy corner of the Internet.”