Featured Startup Pitch: Blackartel - An alternative e-commerce site for men's fashion

ELEVATOR PITCH

The independent and alternative e-commerce menswear platform, created to help young, fashion-conscious men discover unique clothing brands from all over the world.

The Blackartel team-working to connect small, independent designers with customers hungry for new fashion.

PRODUCT/SERVICE DESCRIPTION

We put the spotlight on talented yet underexposed clothing designers. It seeks to break down the traditional power structures in mainstream fashion by promoting small-scale and independent designers from locations all over the globe.

As a marketplace our main job is to find amazing independent brands worldwide and gather them in one place. They’re in charge of the inventory and shipping, while we charge a percentage for each sale.

Fashion creators showcased on Blackartel include La Brigade de l’Amour, which produces clothing centered around the power of love, and Project Pièta a label born in the jails of Peru—an irreverent and impertinent fashion project.

DIFFERENTIATORS VS. THE COMPETITION

The highly competitive e-commerce fashion industry lacks a platform specialized in emerging designers for menswear. We are bridging the gap between consumers who are craving a fresh approach to online fashion and the thousands of young creative brands just waiting to be discovered.

FOUNDERS’ STORY

Blackartel was founded by three lifelong Friends—Sergio Torres, Nathan Eisenband and Sandra Silva—with different backgrounds who met in Barranquilla, the carnival capital of Colombia. They each started travelling the world and lived in different places like China, France, Guatemala, Germany and Brazil. After finishing their studies and internships, they joined together again with the shared passion for clothing to create Blackartel.

BUSINESS MODEL

Blackartel is a showcase of vendors—they upload their products and information in our platform, and our main job is to find them customers from all over the world. We don’t charge entrance, listing or monthly fees—we only charge 10 percent for each sale made through the webpage.