We’re continuing to announce speakers for our TechCrunch Disrupt London conference on December 7-8, 2015 (Agenda, Tickets). The conference will feature global startups, investors, amazing speakers and more. And one area we will zero in on is a strong suit for London: Fashion and tech. Here are our panelists for the discussion.
Filipa Neto (Chic by Choice)
Filipa Neto is co-founder and CEO of Chic by Choice, Europe’s leading luxury rental marketplace allowing women to rent the world’s best items sourced from brands and e-commerce platforms at a fraction of the retail price. Chic by Choice provides retailers a yield management solution that can help manage excessive stock in a clever way, providing an alternative that can generate up to 5 times more revenue than discounting or outlets. Filipa was able to raise €520k investment for the venture at the age of 23. The success of Chic by Choice later led to another €1.5m of investment to continue to grow the company in the UK and Germany. In July 2015, the company acquired Laremia, a German dress rental competitor, which already represents 20% of the company’s revenue. In little more than a year, Chic by Choice is established as the leading dress rental platform shipping to more than 15 countries in Europe and with outstanding month on month growth. Filipa currently manages a team of 16 with offices in London and Lisbon and she is also part of the Global Shapers community, an initiative of the World Economic Forum a network developed and led by young people who are exceptional in their potential, their achievements and their drive to make a contribution to their communities.
Jenny Griffith (Snap Fashion)
Jenny is the founder and CEO of Snap Fashion, and a software engineer turned entrepreneur. She started Snap Fashion in 2009, after graduating from with a Masters of Engineering degree in Computer Science from the University of Bristol. She specialises in Computer Vision, C++, and turning ideas and reactions into products. Her main goal is to change product discovery, and monetise the Internet in more creative and less invasive ways. Jenny holds an MBE for Services to Innovation in the Digital Fashion Industry, was the British Council’s Creative Entrepreneur of the Year in 2014, and speaks at events on fashion technology and entrepreneurship.
José Neves (Farfetch)
In 2008 José Neves launched Farfetch, bringing together his interests in fashion and technology, as well as his experience in design, wholesale and retail, to create a business that would celebrate and support the diversity of the global fashion industry. The seasoned entrepreneur had experienced first-hand the challenges facing bricks-and-mortar retailers wanting to expand online. His vision was to create a single portal, offering independent boutiques the opportunity to compete with the leaders of fashion e-commerce. Farfetch now comprises more than 300 boutiques, offering over 100,000 pieces from 1,000 brands. With customers in almost 190 countries, the site receives an average of 10 million monthly hits. José has been involved in the fashion start-up world since the mid-1990s when he launched footwear business SWEAR. José later founded SIX London, a fashion licensing and wholesale company selling to 600 retailers worldwide. In 2001 José opened the renowned bstore, which won the British Fashion Award for Retailer of the Year in 2006. José has received numerous accolades as an entrepreneur and for his business ventures, including The Business of Fashion’s 500 People Shaping the Fashion Industry in 2013, Ernst & Young’s 2013 Entrepreneur of the Year and Vogue’s DirectorsOf.COM Top Entrepreneur in 2011.
Held on December 7 and 8, (and preceded by a weekend Hackathon), Disrupt is one of the most anticipated technology conferences of the year.
We’ll start each day with panels and one-on-one discussions featuring TechCrunch writers and editors, special guest speakers, leading venture capitalists and entrepreneurs addressing the issues of the day. In the afternoon, we host the Startup Battlefield competition which culminates in six finalists taking the stage at the end of the event for a shot at winning the Disrupt Cup, and taking away a £30,000 check.
You can grab tickets to the conference or tickets to Startup Alley here, where you can showcase your startup.
And if you are interested in learning more about sponsorship opportunities, please contact sponsors@beta.techcrunch.com.
In addition to onstage panel sessions and fireside chats, Disrupt will also feature Startup Battlefield. Startup Battlefield competitors pitch their companies live and onstage to innovators, investors and influencers in the tech community. TechCrunch identifies emerging companies to demo and compete for a prize of £30,000 (€42,000) and the coveted Disrupt Cup, won previously by Mint.com, Yammer, Fitbit, and Dropbox, among others.
Startup Alley offers another way for early-stage companies to gain exposure with a setup that encourages both exhibiting and networking, and provides high visibility. Roughly 200 startups comprise Startup Alley with around 100 new companies demoing on Monday and 100 demoing on Tuesday.