San Francisco, CA — Taelor, Inc., a menswear rental subscription service that uses artificial intelligence to select clothes for people based on their personal goals and preferences, announced today that it has secured $2.3 million in an oversubscribed pre-seed round of funding. Taelor’s lead investor is Bling Capital, a venture capital firm founded by Ben Ling, an early executive at Google and Meta (formally Facebook). Bling has previously invested in more than 10 unicorn companies, including Lyft, Instacart, Square, Airtable, Indiegogo, and Everlane.

Taelor also received investments from Samantha Chien and her husband, Kai Huang, the founder of Guitar Hero; Sean Chao, a former managing director at Morgan Stanley Taiwan; Chicago Early, an angel group that focuses on startups with Chicago ties, including many founded by Northwestern and University of Chicago alumni; and the the co-founder of the Silicon Valley Chapter of Golden Seeds, an investment firm focused on high potential female led companies.

Taelor also has a group of strategic investors in the fashion, corporate gifting, data analytics, shipping and sustainability spaces. These investors include Sunny Huang, who is Executive Director of NewWide Group, a major manufacturer of LuluLemon, Adidas and over 200 major brands, and who also runs Smart Capital, the largest angel group in Taiwan; founders of a successful data analytics company; the human resources head of a Fortune 500 company who oversees corporate employee gifting and perks; the owner of a shipping company; and a board member of Circular Taiwan Network, a non-profit organization dedicated to the circular economy.

Taelor first launched its service to a group of pilot customers in 2021. With this new financing, Taelor will be able to open its service to customers who are currently on the waitlist, as well as diversify its style offerings, expand operations, and continue to refine its styling algorithms.

“The future of menswear is access, not ownership,” said Anya Cheng, Taelor’s founder and CEO, who was a former product lead at Meta who helped create Facebook Shopping and previously held digital innovation leadership positions at eBay, Target, McDonald’s and Sears. “Our mission is to help people to look good, achieve goals and help save the environment.”

Phoebe Tan, Taelor’s other founder and COO, who previously served as an executive of a company that was an operations partner with Amazon Go and Starbucks, agrees that Taelor will appeal to today’s young men. “The younger generation is a lot more fashion conscious because of social media, and they also support sustainability and buying second-hand clothes. That’s why Taelor is really the perfect solution for many young men who want to look good but own less,” she said.When customers first sign up at Taelor, they fill out a style questionnaire and then receive a personal consultation with one of Taelor’s stylists. Then the stylists, along with artificial intelligence, select clothes for the customers based on their personal preferences. The clothes are shipped directly to customers, who can either wear them for weeks and return them or purchase them for up to 70% off the regular retail price. Customers then receive another box of clothes.

For a flat monthly fee of $88 per month, customers get up to two boxes of clothes per month, which include four items in each box, including dress shirts, jackets, polo shirts, henley shirts and more. Taelor plans to add pants to its offerings soon. Dry cleaning and shipping is free both ways — making the process of renting and returning clothing effortless.

In addition to serving individual customers, Taelor plans to work with corporations to offer its subscription service as a perk or gift for employees and clients, as well as leverage its unique data to help brands and retailers predict trends and reduce unsold inventory.

“Taelor is like a launching pad for clothing brands,” Cheng said. “As a SaaS (software as a service) data company, we help brands and retailers test products, find new customers, and discover consumers’ true preferences.”

Ling said he was motivated to invest in Taelor because of its commitment to sustainability and its unique approach to helping fashion brands gain market insights. “Taelor saves time and money for consumers, customizing the experience for each consumer through AI, with a thoughtful focus on sustainability and re-use,” Ling said.

Taelor and Cheng have already received lots of attention and recognition. The company won first place at legendary investor Tim Draper’s startup competition, Draper Demo Day; was chosen as a select team by the 500 Global (500 Startups) accelerator’s Taiwan Tech Arena Silicon Valley partnership program; received a 30 Under 40 Rising Star Entrepreneur Award; was named the west coast regional champion in the Alumni New Venture Challenge, the University of Chicago’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation startup competition; and was chosen as a SPARK Accel accelerator selected team, where Kevin Lin, co-founder of Twitch, and Patrick Lee, co-founder of Rotten Tomatoes, were their mentors.

Consumers who want to support sustainability can sign up for Taelor’s menswear rental subscription service or purchase a gift card at https://taelor.style. Customers can use the code GREEN for 20% off the first two months and they can use the code GREENGIFT for a one-time 20% off gift card for Father’s Day. Menswear fashion brands who want to get involved in the sustainability space by participating in circular fashion and renting out inventory can contact Taelor at [email protected].

About Taelor

Taelor is a Silicon Valley-based menswear clothing rental subscription service. Our mission is to help people feel confident so that they can achieve their life and career goals while saving mindspace and playing a part in saving the environment. Our top-notch stylists, along with powerful algorithms, pick out the perfect clothes for you to make you stand out. When you're ready to swap, just return the dirty clothes and get the next box! As a data analytics firm, Taelor also helps clothing brands and retailers test products and predict trends, and the company’s goal is to be the world's most effective product-testing platform for clothing brands and retailers. Currently, Taelor is also offering subscriptions to corporations’ human resources departments to help organizations improve onboarding and new-hire productivity. For more information, visit https://taelor.style.

About Bling Capital

Bling Capital is a venture capital investment firm that was founded by Ben Ling, an early executive at Google and Meta (formally Facebook). It primarily invests in the consumer tech, internet, mobile, marketplace, data, fintech, SaaS, and automation sectors. The company focuses on investing in seed stage startups and is known for making quick investment decisions. Bling has previously invested in 10 unicorn companies, including Lyft, Instacart, Square, Airtable, Indiegogo, and Everlane. For more information about Bling Capital, please visit https://www.blingcap.com.