Startup Series Episode 23: unspun

custom jeans that not only fit perfectly but are tackling the waste problem within the fashion industry

If you’d prefer to listen, you can find the audio to this episode here!

unspun is a robotics and digital apparel company building custom jeans for each consumer, on demand. Their mission is to reduce global carbon emissions by 1% through automated, localized, and intentional apparel manufacturing. By using the iPhone FaceID sensor to create a digital avatar, unspun can instantly tailor and build each garment to the actual customer, and deliver a completely custom product (style, fabric, stitching color, etc) at off-the-rack prices. The company can do this all while eliminating unsold inventory waste, which represents a $150B/yr. loss in the industry as a whole. Recently included in Time's “Best Inventions” and PopSci's “Best of What's New,” unspun is leading an industry, notoriously plagued by waste, towards a more sustainable and profitable future.

unspun co-founder and CTO Kevin Martin walks me through what motivated him and his co-founders to tackle this massive challenge within the fashion industry. We also discuss the future of apparel in a COVID world, how unspun's core robotics technology fits with their consumer-facing brand, and Kevin's vision for the future of automated and localized manufacturing. Kevin was a great guest, and I learned a lot about the climate impact of the apparel industry.

Enjoy the show!

Synopsis:

Mission: Reduce global carbon emissions by 1% through automated, localized, and intentional manufacturing.
Team: Kevin Martin (CTO and Co-Founder), Beth Esponnette (Executive Chairman, Chief Product Officer, and Co-Founder), and Walden Lam (Co-Founder and CEO)
Product: API that takes a full body scan to create the perfect fitting jeans.
Website: Linked In, unspun
Traction: Raising a pre A in 2021
Jobs: Software Engineers, Hardware Engineers, and coming soon Chief of Staff (careers page)