Ahead of its second quarter earnings call Thursday, Gap Inc. announced it has acquired e-commerce startup Drapr, a recent Y Combinator alum that has built technology that lets customers try on clothing virtually to ensure a better fit from home.
Drapr was founded in Berkeley last year by David Pastewka, Richard Berwick and Will Drevno, who have worked on 3-D technology across various applications, with support from Boost VC and Berkeley SkyDeck. The startup has raised $125,000 to date from two seed funding rounds, per Crunchbase, and was part of the Y Combinator class of Summer 2020. Terms were not disclosed.
“Most people either don’t know their exact measurements or are looking for a specific type of fit that numbers alone can’t tell them,” Pastewka said in a statement (their website estimates less than 10% of shoppers use size charts). “Drapr has proven effective and we are excited about the impact we can have on customers at scale as part of the Gap Inc. family.”
“Fit is the number one point of friction for customers and, through their advanced 3D technology, Drapr has shown it can help shoppers efficiently find the size and fit they need," said Sally Gilligan, Gap's chief growth transformation officer, in a statement. "We plan to leverage Drapr to help Gap Inc. improve the fit experience for our customers and accelerate our ongoing digital transformation."
Gap (NYSE: GPS) shares were down about 4.6%, or $1.27, for the day after the acquisition announcement late Thursday morning. Wall Street expects Gap to report sales of $4.1 billion for the second fiscal quarter when it shares results after market close Thursday. Shares across the retail sector were down Thursday morning after a weaker-than-expected quarterly results from major brands.
The deal was brokered by Gap's strategic growth office, which seeks out investments to give the company new capabilities across its brand portfolio — for instance, investing in digital fitness platform Obé Fitness and launching a brand engagement campaign between the startup and Athleta.
Old Navy CEO Nancy Green said Drapr's technology will allow the company to deliver a more "personalized and inclusive fit experience" for customers, building on a customer experience initiative, BODEQUALITY unveiled last week.
