True Fit Crosses 5M Customer Line, Gets $15M

True Fit, a startup that guides online apparel shoppers by finding out what’s already in their closets, has passed 5 million users and raised $15 million, according to TechCrunch.

The Massachusetts-based startup uses an apparel database sourced from 1,500 brands and retailers to calculate fit, thus dodging the problem of no two labels’ clothing fitting exactly the same. True Fit also uses anonymized transaction data to identify what clothing and shoes shoppers keep, and what they return after buying.

When shoppers go to a site using True Fit such as Macy’s or Nordstrom, they can select an option to create a True Fit profile and answer a few questions about items in their closets that are related to the page they’re on. The quiz takes about 30 seconds to answer, according to CEO Bill Adler.

Based on that basic profile, True Fit’s “Discovery Engine” provides a recommendation for which size of items on the page will fit best. As a shopper uses the profile across other retailers and apparel categories, the engine can do a more successful job of identifying what will fit and what the shopper will actually like (and keep instead of returning). That saves time for shoppers as well as return and restocking costs for retailers.

True Fit is also doing a more successful job of getting shoppers to sign up. Of those 5 million users, 1.2 million — almost a quarter of the total — were added during the last few months of 2014, and True Fit is now adding 150,000 to 200,000 users per week.

Along the way, True Fit completed a $15 million growth equity round this fall led by Signal Peak Ventures, Promus Ventures and Jump Capital, along with existing investors Guggenheim Partners, Breakaway Ventures and Novel TMT.

Meanwhile, the fit-data recommendations business has been getting busier. In December, Fits.me (which built virtual dressing rooms) and Clothing Horse (which has its own big-data recommendation service) merged to combine their approaches in taking on the space.