Startup of the Week has gained 100,000 users in a year and a half

It’s easy to lose your breath when climate change and green transition turn into extreme rainfall and extreme drought caused by nations overusing the earth’s resources for centuries.

Therefore, the whole starting point for the startup Capsule was to approach the green agenda in a completely different and more optimistic way:

“Instead of making companies greener, we really wanted to look into how we can make it fun for the crowd to be a little greener as a consumer,” explains Louise Linde, co-founder of Capsule.

Their solution was a digital wardrobe app where you can put together and plan outfits. Users can see what their friends have in their wardrobe and they can mix and match with the digital overview – so they can actually use all the clothes in their wardrobe instead of buying new ones.

Louise Linde has had the idea since she was 14 years old. But she had never seen herself as an entrepreneur, so it wasn’t until an entrepreneurship course at VIA University College, where she was put in a group with her co-founders Emilie and Nadia, that the idea came to life as Capsule.

“We had absolutely no idea what we were getting into or what it required. We had no experience with tech or startups. But we were like that: There’s a gap in the market and we believe we can contribute to something good. That’s why we went 100% into it,” says Louise Linde.

A dream start

The idea was developed alongside the completion of their studies. Almost the same day they graduated, they secured funding from Innofounder so they could start developing the solution full-time. And when the solution was launched, the users were ready.

“At that point, we had built a lot of community. We had a huge signup list and we had gone viral on TikTok with 3 million views. So when we launched, we quickly got 10,000 downloads,” says Louise Linde.

With a great start, investors became interested in the startup and two months after the launch, they raised their first investment of just over 3 million DKK.

The growth has continued ever since. Today, they have 100,000 users in 180 different countries who have uploaded over 2.5 million pieces of clothing to the platform and styled 400,000 outfits.

“We want to be market leaders in the digitalization of the wardrobe. This will require us to scale up our team. That we raise a large investment round next year. That’s why we’ve been to San Francisco before to build a network among VCs.”

The journey towards a business model

The demand for Capsule has been high from the start. But how are they going to monetize the many users?

“We get a really good response, but the journey has required us to learn more about the users. What are they there for and what do they want? Some wear their clothes a lot more because of Captule, and others use it more as an inspiration tool,” says Louise Linde.

This has required a minor shift in Capsule’s identity: users really care more about styling than the sustainable mission. And the startup wants to embrace that.

“If both users and brands are more interested in styling and inspiration, then it makes the most strategic sense for us to become this styling universe. And it’s still good if it leads to a shirt being worn 100 times instead of one,” says Louise Linde.

For the business, this means that brands today pay to have a presence on Capsule so that users can create outfits with the brand’s range. A business model that now needs to be proven – while user numbers still need to grow rapidly.

“In the short term, we focus on validating the business model in Denmark, but the long-term goal is still to globalize. We don’t need to be profitable for many years – it’s about proving the business model so we can raise the next big round for growth,” says Louise Linde.

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