Fashion app Snapette raises $1.3M in seed funding

The app that lets you find cute styles nearby gets support from Shoedazzle CEO Brian Lee

Snapette, a mobile fashion app that lets users scan the latest styles and see which items are available nearby, plans to announce Wednesday that it has raised $1.3 million in seed funding from several unnamed VC firms and angel investors, including Brian Lee, the founder and CEO of Shoedazzle.  The round brings Snapette’s total raised to $1.5 million.

Launched in August 2011, the app allows shoppers to snap pictures of hot fashion items and accessories and post them to Snapette with a location and comment.  In turn, other shoppers can browse items by location to find cute new styles that are nearby. 

In theory, if everyone got on Snapette, it would solve that annoying problem of getting a picture via text message from a friend who just spotted an awesome sweater and plans to buy it, but doesn’t tell you where she found it.  Maybe you want that sweater, too, damn it!  With Snapette, you can go beyond just admiring the sweater enviously and actually go pick up the stupid sweater yourself.

Users can search for items by brand, store, or description, and they can also browse trending items to see what other users are falling in love with in more than 130 countries around the world.  Additionally, users can follow their favorite contributors and check out feeds from featured boutiques and fashion experts.

The company—a graduate of Dave McClure’s 500 Startups accelerator program—was founded by Harvard grads Jinhee Ahn Kim and Sarah Paiji, who plan to use the new funds from this round to grow its management team, incorporate more social commerce capabilities, and expand the platform to other platforms, including the iPad, Android, and Windows Phone.

“The future of shopping and commerce is all about Discovery rather than Search.  We are building Snapette from the ground up to lead this movement,” said Paiji, in a statement.

Snapette is one of several companies exploring the mobile fashion photo-sharing space.  Go Try It On, a similar mobile social fashion app for sharing photos of outfits and styles to get feedback from other users, raised $3 million in August. Like Snapette, Go Try It On features feedback and commentary from fashion experts as well as consumers. 

Image source: snapette.com