Mango’s Accelerator Invests in Market Analytics Start- up Flipflow
● The Spanish fast-fashion chain has made its sixth StartUp Studio accelerator investment.
The Mango StartUp Studio accelerator program is innovating and investing again.
It's latest and sixth investment is in Flipflow, a start-up for market analytics, price monitoring and real-time stock inventory. The Spanish fast-fashion brand said on Wednesday that the investment will be through a convertible equity loan.
Flipflow was founded in 2021 to offer brands, manufacturers and distributors a dashboard that provides an accurate, real-time status of their products, categories and competitors in the global marketplace. Flipflow's plan is to create a benchmark in market analytics to improve the management and monitoring of a company's business data.
With its entry into the accelerator program, the start-up founders will learn how Mango operates, helping them to scale their business model. The Flipflow team will also receive advice and mentoring sessions from Mango experts, as well as “collaborate with them to create new functionalities and raise the value proposition of their technology,” Mango said.
Launched in 2022, accelerator investments by Mango include digital identity and avatar development firm Union Avatars and software and robotic 3D-printing systems developer Ziknes, which uses sustainable materials in its architectural and design components. Another investment is sustainable start-up Recovo, which specializes in the resale of textile waste. The remaining two investments were in Payflow, an on-demand salary and flexible remuneration business, and Las Más Mona, a platform for renting party dresses and accessories.
Separate from its accelerator program, Mango is looking at other ways to innovate and grow. Early in January, the fashion brand took steps enabling more than 250 employees to be trained in the principles of sustainability. Meanwhile, in December, Mango's move to a more eco-conscious focus saw it team with Materra to add a capsule collection of products featuring regenerative cotton, which will be available for purchase in the back half of 2024.
Its latest internal generative AI platform Lisa — styled similar to a ChatGPT interface — will help employees and partners in the development of collections and after-sales service, Mango said last fall. Lisa joins other Mango-developed machine-learning platforms that include Inspire for imagery, Midas for pricing, Gaudi for product recommendations and Iris for assistance in customer service.