VIDA Raises $1.3 Million For "Socially-Responsible" E-Commerce
Summary
The company is also disclosing its $1.3 million seed round investment, which additionally includes The Valley Fund, Nanon, Don Mattricks Beehive Holdings, Dave Morins Slow Ventures, and Jesse Draper.According to company co-founder Umaimah Mendhro, formerly of West and Microsoft where shes helped build and launch technology products, she had always wanted to be an artist when she grew up.I am from a very small town in Pakistan and was home-schooled much of my life because we didnt have proper schools around. With a love for fashion and design, I was also acutely aware of the hundreds of millions of people employed in textile and garment production, who could never get out of a cycle of poverty.Mendhro has some experience with social enterprises as well, she notes, having previously launched one that operates in Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, and Rwanda, focused on bringing communities together through education and empowerment.With VIDA, the idea is to use technology to provide a way for designers, artists and other creatives from around the world to make a viable living through their work. For instance, a designer, Maria Virginia, takes four days to complete a watercolored piece. VIDA then turns that art into a scanned digital format and prints it on fabric in less than 45 seconds, with no set up time or minimum order requirement. Additionally, VIDA often works with its textile mills, printers, and cut and sew factories, removing the middleman costs from the equation.We ensure livable wages for our producers and on top of that, offer a literacy program to our factory workers, enabling them to learn to read, write, and do basic math, so they can build a better life for themselves and their families, says Mendhro.The San Francisco-headquartered company is currently a team of 6 full-time.