weekly startup spotlight

welcome to introspection ft. harsehaj! ⭐️ i’m harsehaj, a 19 y/o always up to something in social good x tech.

this publication is a place for me to reflect on productivity, health and tech, and drop unique opportunities in the space right to your inbox daily. if you’re new here, sign up to tune in!💌

scroll to the end for my daily roundup on unique opportunities!

onto today’s topic: hemster, now re(vive) 🪡 

my brother accidentally tore the sleeve of his sweater the other day, and according to today’s overconsumption culture, the natural course of action would have been to toss the sweater out.

instead, my brother (he’s 8 years old btw… 😭) returned with a sleeve flawlessly stitched up. to many of us, an ill-fitted garment or tear means packaging a return or tossing away the clothes. we have lost the art of tailoring clothing, which is why hemster, a b2b and b2c startup, caught my interest.

it’s a little tricky to fully understand what hemster does through their website so i’ll briefly summarize. essentially, if you shop with one of hemster’s partnered brands, you receive free tailoring services that include pre-paid shipping with a fast turnaround of 1-3 days. not only that, the hemster platform also enables consumers to save their sizing patterns digitally and apply them to other products — kind of like a blueprint for your future shopping experiences.

let’s talk numbers! 🤓 

the global clothing alterations services market, which hemster operates in, is expected to grow from $1.5 billion in 2023 to $2.6 billion by 2032, with a cagr of 6.4% from 2024 to 2032 (source).

according to zippia, hemster's annual revenue was $4.2m in 2023, and they have since 10x-ed this amount after pivoting and rebranding as re(vive). i would definitely recommend reading about their pivot here — i just found hemster’s initial premise more interesting.

questions i’d be interested to ask:

• how to you plan to scale your network of tailors/”revivers” as the company grows? i see this as a great opportunity to uplift many immigrant populations.

• how has your treatment and experience with vcs changed since you pivoted?

daily opportunity + resource drops 🔍️