During the weeks leading up to the third edition of the French-American Creative Lab, we invite you to learn more about the 8 French startups selected to participate in the program. This week, let us introduce you to Euveka, a start-up specialized in personalization processes in the textile and clothing industries.
Euveka is a start-up in France’s Drôme region specialized in robotic technologies linked to morphology and biomimicry. Euveka manufactures and develops evolutive and connected mannequins controlled by design software that are destined to be used by clothing industry professionals, in order to support fashion, sport and medical professionals in prototyping and selling well-adjusted garments.
Euveka’s CEO Audrey-Laure Bergenthal graciously agreed to be interviewed:
- Why did you become an entrepreneur ?
I’ve always dreamt of being an entrepreneur. As a kid I used to say to my dad, an entrepreneur in the textile engineering industry, that I wanted to be like him. He used to say that it was not suitable for a girl to become an entrepreneur. This is the reason why I wisely decided to study law and become an intellectual property lawyer. That was a position for a woman. After a few months behind my huge desk in an international law firm and about to start a Masters of Law degree in an Ivy League law school here in the USA, I got bored.
I was meeting on a daily basis with entrepreneurs, inventors, and designers with fantastic lives and I would help them be free and safe to build their innovation and companies. I was 23 and already about to be frustrated.
One day after listening too closely to my mum complaints about not finding garments that would fit her well, I checked on the web on how clothes were made.
I found that they were made on wooden mannequins. That was so archaic and far away from reality. I checked on the patent data basis if patents on scalable and anthropometric mannequins were ongoing and the result was null. I was young, bold and risk-taking. After a few months of deep thoughts, I cancelled my departure to the USA, decided to start an intensive course of pattern-making and worked as vendor in a small boutique to pay my study. My parents, my employers and teachers were so shocked. But I stood still. After many years of sacrifice it is finally turning huge for my company and me. And finally, my dad became my first supporter!
- How is Euveka’s robot going to disrupt or revolutionize the fashion, sports and medical industries?
Euveka is specializing in robotic technologies linked to morphology and biomimicry. Our 100% made-in-France breakthrough innovation allows us to reproduce any body shapes and helps professionals of the garment’s industry embrace the turn of the mass customization revolution. Our smart and scalable mannequin connected to our software assists fashion, sport, medical and security industry professionals in prototyping and selling garments without fitting.
Our mannequin can adapt as closely as possible to the human body’s evolution based on age or morphologies. Controlled by design software, it evolves integrally or by specific zone in height or width using body and garment scale charts. It can vary in width from a 36 to a 46 in less than 1 minute.
It can recreate 80% of current female morphologies for Caucasian and Asian women between five feet, one inch tall to five feet, nine inches tall and body distortions from ages 17 to 70.
This technology is a lifesaver that instantly helps companies reduce their prototyping cost by 30 to 50%. The return on investment is immediate. Plus, for the very short-term, the professionals will prototype not only twice as fast and two times as cheap but will do it better and safer by reducing their ecological impact though the savings of materials and transportations.
At mid-long term, this will help professionals too target instantly their market through the mastering of morphological data. The notion of sizes or standard will be abolished. They will able to produce for a person or a group according to any specificities: age, origin, criteria of performance for sport, criteria of therapy or safety for the medical and security sectors. We are working on other innovations that will help create a complete new process from the production to the store and vice and versa.
- Why is it crucial for Euveka to expand in the US now?
For us, expanding to the US is crucial for many reasons. Our technology is well-adapted to the diversity of morphologies here on the US territories. It could help fashion brands to take into account the variety of customers. The US is well aware of the need of taking the turn of the mass customization revolution. We believe that thanks to this keen consciousness, we could speed up our growth here, even faster than in Europe. The US market could become over the years our second and equivalent market with the European market. Moreover, french fashion tech has an estimated reputation here which we can benefit instantly from.
Supported by the major French brands in Haute Couture, Luxury and Ready-to-wear and the French public ecosystem through the Ministry of Culture, le DEFI Mode, Fédération de la Haute-Couture, Fédération du Prêt-à-porter and the French Embassy and so on, we have already from France taken an initial grip with the American market which answers with a deep enthusiasm to our technology. The timing is now perfect.
We are attending the CES in January and the SWSW in Austin in March. We already have meetings with majors brands planned from November to March. We also are attending the Creative Lab to gather the best advices from the best mentors in order to open before the end of 2018 our first office in NYC since we already have so many opportunities showing up even before our first trip !
Euveka’s CEO, Audrey-Laure Bergenthal, will be in New York from November 6 - 10 and in Los Angeles from November 12 – 15, 2017. If you would like to meet with her, contact us at creative-lab@frenchculture.org.
Click here to find more information about the French-American Creative Lab.
