SummaryEdit
Contact is a marketplace that allows models to be booked directly. Already operating in London and Paris, with clients including Vogue and Nike. Contact plan to allow clients to search, find and hire models anywhere globally directly over desktop or mobile without going through an agency.
- The product launched on 15/08/19
- 80+ models using the platform
- Clients include Vogue, Nike, Farfetch
- Global estimated fashion talent market = $25 billion
IdeaEdit
Contact was born in 2018, out of the need for change in the modelling industry. Contact creates an ecosystem where the talent have control over their own careers. Talent can currently select the jobs they want, on the terms they agree and, once launched, will be able to manage payment via the platform. Contact provides full transparency on fees and costs and ensures the client exists.
The industry has always been associated with high commissions and hidden costs. Traditional agencies currently use "bookers" to manage a finite number of models whilst the booking process can be time consuming, expensive and result in costly miscommunication.
Contact won't take a commission from its models vs the 30 - 37.5% industry average, instead it charges a 20% booking fee. Models will get paid within 7 days rather than months later as with some traditional agencies. The ease and speed of talent search using one platform reduces costs, whilst Contact's upcoming in-app communication has been designed to save time and communicate changes in schedules.
We're bringing a tech-enabled approach to an old fashioned, broken system.
Market Size
- Global estimated fashion talent market = $25 bn (2014)
- Global estimated modelling contract market = $10 bn (2014)
Funding will be spent on
- Completing the web platform & mobile app
- On-boarding clients & models internationally
- Marketing the product & service
TeamEdit
Reuben Selby - CEO
Reuben is the founder and CEO at Contact. He started his career as a fashion photographer. His introduction to tech started in Daisie's founding team, as Communications Director. At Daisie he handled all marketing and helped to grow the total user count from 0 to 100,000. When the company raised its seed round, he managed a team of 5.
Josh McMillan - CTO (full time after raise)
Josh McMillan started in the tech industry 8 years ago and he has worked at some of UK's most successful startups; notably at both Deliveroo and Daisie.
Tim Novis - Lead Engineer (part time)
Tim Novis is a full stack software engineer, having worked at Daisie for nearly 2 years and most recently at the Financial Times.
Rory Griffin & Zoard Heuze - Creative Directors
Rory and Zoard are in charge of casting and creative direction at Contact. They both graduated from LCF in Fashion Photography.
Maisie Williams - Advisor
Maisie Williams is an actress and entrepreneur. She can help to introduce us to some of the most influential people in fashion and to some of the largest brands in the world.
Pippa Lamb - Advisor
Pippa is a consumer investor with experience working at Sweet Capital and J.P Morgan,and holds degrees from Oxford and Harvard University.