[Edaily Marketin YunJi Kim Reporter] Google and eBay have invested more than 10 billion won in a British digital closet startup. This move is seen as a bet on a business model that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to digitize consumers’ clothing and connect them across the entire spectrum—from styling to secondhand transactions. Observers note that the competitive focus of fashion platforms is shifting from recommending new products to acquiring data on individual wardrobes.

According to industry sources on the 10th, the UK fashion-tech startup Whering recently secured $7 million (approximately 10.5 billion won) in seed funding from eBay Ventures and the Google AI Futures Fund.

Whering is a platform that allows users to create a digital wardrobe by registering their clothing, shoes, and accessories in the app. It offers styling features based on the user’s actual wardrobe—such as putting together outfits or packing clothes for a trip—and currently has over 10 million users worldwide.

It is reported that eBay Ventures and the Google AI Futures Fund took note of the potential applications of the “wardrobe data” accumulated by Wearing. While existing online fashion platforms have identified what consumers have purchased through search and purchase histories, Wearing can quantify not only what users frequently wear but also which items they rarely use, based on their actual clothing inventory and wearing patterns.

This is precisely why the investment industry is focusing on closet data. By analyzing a user’s clothing inventory, wearing frequency, and outfit combinations, it is possible to gain a more precise understanding of their actual preferences, thereby improving the accuracy of AI-based personalized recommendations. In particular, as Google works to advance its personalized services, eBay—which is strengthening its secondhand clothing business—is also expected to be able to connect infrequently worn clothes to the resale market.

Wearing plans to use this investment to expand its AI-based personalized recommendations, virtual try-on, and interactive styling features. The company also aims to enhance its ability to identify clothes that users rarely wear and connect them to resale or donation channels.

Meanwhile, business models like Wearing’s align with recent investment trends in the global fashion-tech market. While the fashion industry’s use of AI has traditionally focused on analyzing search and purchase histories to recommend products or provide virtual try-ons, it has recently expanded into analyzing actual clothing ownership and wearing patterns.

Related investments are also underway. For example, Alta, a U.S. fashion-tech startup, secured $11 million in seed funding last year by promoting a business model where AI recommends outfits based on an individual’s digital wardrobe. Save Your Wardrobe, a UK-based company, also digitizes users’ clothing and connects them to aftercare services such as alterations and maintenance.