Q2 2025 key investments in technology and innovation across the apparel industry

This article is part of the Q2 2025 apparel industry report.

Report index:

Apparel companies posting strong performance in Q2 2025

Companies reporting sales and profit drops in Q2 2025

Apparel technology investments and innovation in Q2 2025

Executive summary list of apparel companies’s results Q2 2025

Strategic acquisitions and expansions in apparel, Q2 2025

Based on the financial reports and industry news from the second quarter of 2025, here is a summary of the key investments in technology and innovation across the fashion, beauty, and retail sectors.

Technology and innovation investments in Q2 2025: A definitive list

The second quarter of 2025 saw a significant acceleration in technology and innovation investments across the fashion industry. Faced with market volatility, regulatory pressures, and the urgent need for greater efficiency, companies funnelled capital into artificial intelligence, digital product creation, and supply chain traceability. This strategic pivot reflects a broader industry shift, where data-driven solutions are no longer a niche but a core component of future growth and resilience.

Here are the key companies that made notable investments in technology and innovation during the period:

Artificial intelligence and data platforms

• Talon.One: The German enterprise loyalty and promotion software provider, whose clients include H&M and Adidas, raised 135 million dollars in a growth funding round to accelerate innovation and expand its market position in the US, UK, and Europe.
• Gensmo: The US-based AI-powered fashion agent, which uses AI models to provide shoppable recommendations, closed a seed funding round of over 60 million dollars just months after its launch.
• Alta: The AI personal shopping and stylist app, which offers custom outfits and shopping recommendations, raised 11 million dollars in a seed funding round led by Menlo Ventures to accelerate product development.
• Markmi: The Belgium-based fashion tech startup raised 1.1 million euros in seed funding to accelerate the rollout of its AI-driven markdown assistant, which empowers merchandising teams to make data-driven pricing decisions.
• Google: The US tech giant expanded its AI functions within its Shopping platform, introducing a virtual "try on me" feature using personal photos and a price-tracking "agent-checkout" system.
• Debenhams Group: The British fashion group, parent of Boohoo and PrettyLittleThing, signed a multi-year partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to scale its adoption of generative AI tools for streamlining operations and enhancing customer personalisation.
• Fairly Made: The French green tech firm secured 15 million euros in funding to accelerate its transformation into a technology-focused company, further developing its SaaS platform for supply chain traceability and impact measurement.
• Alvanon: The fashion technology pioneer highlighted its AI-powered phygital approach and "Sizing Intelligence Ecosystem," which integrates physical fit forms, digital twins, and AI analytics to help brands align designs with real consumer body shapes.
• WAIR: The Amsterdam-based technology company showcased its AI-driven solutions for inventory management, featuring AI agents that analyse, predict, and automate inventory decisions at the individual stock-keeping unit level.
• Chainbalance AI: The company detailed its advanced AI model for "Smart Replenishment," which uses machine learning and probabilistic forecasting to optimise inventory based on historical data, weather patterns, and promotional effects.
• ChatBlu: The London-based AI start-up, which has developed an autonomous AI agent for multi-platform inventory management, raised 500,000 dollars in pre-seed funding.
• Hermès: The French luxury house announced it will form an Artificial Intelligence Governance Committee in 2025 to supervise the use of AI in data analysis, logistics automation, and decision support.

Digital product creation and 3D technology

• Browzwear: The leader in 3D digital product creation for fashion acquired Lalaland.ai, an Amsterdam-based pioneer in hyper-realistic, AI-generated fashion models, to integrate generative AI directly into its workflow.
• Zalando: The German e-tailer acquired London-based 3D technology specialist DeepAR and its associated ShopAR platform to enhance its 3D content and virtual experience capabilities.
• ByBorre: The Amsterdam-based textile innovation studio launched the Textile Room, a digital platform offering designers access to configurable 3D-knit fabrics with direct visual feedback and on-demand production.
• CLO Virtual Fashion: The parent company of 3D fashion design software CLO acquired Swatchbook, a digital materials solutions provider, to create the world’s largest digital fabric database.

Supply chain, traceability and logistics

• N Brown: The UK retail group implemented a new Product Information Management (PIM) system in partnership with Akeneo to improve customer experience and unify data points across its Simply Be, Jacamo, and JD Williams brands.
• Certilogo: The company highlighted its "Secure by Design™" methodology for its secure Digital Product Passport platform, which is used by over 80 global fashion brands to ensure data integrity and create links between physical products and their digital identities.
• Recover: The Spanish recycled cotton producer partnered with French traceability platform TextileGenesis to pilot a system for digitally tracking recycled fibres from origin to finished product using unique digital tokens.
• Positive Luxury: The sustainability certification platform partnered with Buyerdock to offer its accredited brands access to advanced Digital Product Passport technology for end-to-end product traceability and anti-counterfeiting safeguards.
• The Platform Group: The German e-commerce group established its own fulfilment company, TPG Fulfillment GmbH, and took over a 12,000 square metre logistics warehouse to handle logistics for its platform partners.
• Lectra: The technology company highlighted how its e-commerce platform Neteven expanded its network by integrating TikTok Shop, allowing fashion brands to manage sales on the social media channel through its central SaaS solution.

Strategic tech-focused M&A and investments

• Inditex: The Spanish fashion giant announced an investment in Theker Robotics, a Spanish start-up developing intelligent, AI-powered robots for process automation in sectors including logistics and retail.
• H&M Group: The Swedish fashion group took a minority stake in Centra, a fashion-focused e-commerce platform provider, to support its next phase of global growth and accelerate research and development.
• MySize, Inc.: The Israeli AI-driven sizing solutions company acquired the key assets of Percentil, a European resale marketplace, marking its strategic entry into the circular fashion sector.