The retail sector requires inventory planning to maintain margins and meet demand. This is becoming increasingly difficult with today’s many distribution channels, more complex supply chains, and shorter sales cycles. Mid-market retailers and premium brands tend to have less firepower and rely on legacy software than retail giants.
Founded in 2020, Autone aims to predict demand and support sales while reducing waste and manual effort.
The company has now raised $17 million in a Series A funding round led by General Catalyst. Previous investors also participated, including angels from Speedinvest, Y Combinator, Seedcamp, 2100VC, Motier, Financière Saint James, LVMH, Sephora, and Monckle. This new funding brings the company’s total raised to $20 million, including a $3 million seed round led by Speedinvest. Competitors include Anaplan, BlueYonder, and Relex.
Born and raised in Paris, Autone co-founder and CEO Adil Boudadi first became interested in sneaker culture in the early 2000s. He then wanted to enter the luxury fashion industry, but with few connections, he decided to constantly update LVMH’s career website until he landed an internship at Givenchy. He ended up spending six months shadowing the CEO.
After completing her master’s degree in 2013, she took a break at Alexander Wang in New York, moved to Victoria Beckham in London, and joined Alexander McQueen in 2015.
While there, Bouhdadi and colleague Harry Glucksmann-Cheslaw (now Autone CTO) both worked on an in-house inventory platform, which they claim contributed to significant revenue growth for the brand over the next five years. The co-founders are a combination of Muslims and Jews. Adil comes from a Muslim family (his parents immigrated to Paris from Morocco) and his co-founder comes from a Jewish family who immigrated to England to escape the Holocaust.
Bouhdadi (current CEO) told TechCrunch: “At Alexander McQueen, we found that literally everyone in the company was using Excel. The biggest problem for retail companies is that they all operate in silos, so we decided to use the alpha version of Autone. ”
He said Autone can now see products from retail brands in the next 12 months, adding: “Raw materials can now be purchased in one month instead of three, reducing inventory risk and reducing volatility. supply chain is now possible.”
Autone’s customers currently include companies such as Courreges, Roberto Cavalli, Stussy, and Zadig&Voltaire.
