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As a student, Ferdinand Metzler wanted to solve the problem of a textile entrepreneur. Zalando recently took over his company. The founder of Fision in conversation.
Body scan technology developed by Zurich software company Fision will be integrated into Zalando’s online store.
At the beginning of the founding story, there was the problem of a textile manufacturer in Hong Kong. The Austrian Gerhard Flatz was upset because he did not know anything about the body mass of his clients. At a birthday party in Hong Kong, he met his compatriot Ferdinand Metzler, who was spending an exchange semester there as a mechanical engineering student. “I wanted to solve the problem,” Metzler says in an interview. Back in Zurich, he founded Fision in 2015 to develop a technology that can be used to digitally measure the body. As a member of the Board of Directors, Flatz was on board from the beginning.
Metzler, who completed his master’s degree at ETH Zurich, brought young ETH or EPFL graduates who think similarly to the company. The team developed a 3-D body scan app, size recommendation, and virtual wardrobe from scratch, Metzler says. Customers use it to record their body mass and different garments can be tried on in a virtual dressing room. It sounds easy, but it is difficult to develop. Metzler attributes the fact that it still worked to a mixture of fairness, perseverance and optimism. “I never thought for a day that it couldn’t work,” says the 30-year-old founder.
Many ups and downs
At first he experienced many emotional ups and downs (“like a sinus curve”), but over time he became more balanced. The entrepreneur has learned that there is no point in trying to force something: “You pay the price later.” Today he makes more commitments, but without losing sight of the goal. Mutual trust in the team has helped a lot to build the company and make it what it is today.
The team has now grown to about twenty employees. He sees the main task for himself as the boss in creating the right environment for creative minds to come together and work in a focused way.
Technical solutions like those from Fision are in great demand in the industry. The software company has so far worked with about fifty clients. The first customer was Swiss Post, which manufactured tailored workwear. But Metzler thinks ahead. One of the biggest problems in the garment industry is overproduction, which is mainly due to the fact that the items are not tailored to the consumer.
According to the founder, this problem could be solved if, thanks to technology, tailor-made products for the mass market were made possible. However, it will be many years before that vision becomes a reality. The 3-D body scan is of particular interest to online retailers facing a large number of avoidable returns.
Why Zalando?
It is no wonder that many companies have taken notice of the startup. Metzler recently decided in favor of Zalando as a buyer and wants to stay on board. No information is given on the price of the transaction. Could you retire now as a successful founder? Metzler laughs. He stays because he wants to, not because he has to.
Zalando wants to fully integrate the Fision team and technology in the next year and a half or two and expand the Zurich location into a technology hub. Until then, 150 specialists will be hired in Zurich working in the fields of visual computing and artificial intelligence, among others.
“I wanted to see the product in action on a large scale,” says Metzler. Fision would have lacked the manufacturer’s product data. Europe’s largest online fashion retailer knows a lot about its more than 2,500 partner brands and the more than 600,000 items in the store. The companies also fared well together in terms of corporate vision and culture. For Metzler, the first priority is that the product solves a problem. The second most important thing is to promote the project with the right people, and third is the positive contribution to the client and especially to the environment.
“The business aspect is also a problem, but the first three points must be met first,” he says. However, selling the company was never the incentive, neither for him nor for the investors. Such thoughts would only distract from product development. With the sale to Zalando, Metzler has given up on technology, but will also drive further steps at Zalando and will be jointly responsible for the team.
Not one that knocks down their stores quickly
Even in private life, the Vorarlberg resident is not one to take down his tent quickly. He lives in Zurich, but visits his family and friends in his hometown of Bregenzerwald as often as possible. He continues to play clarinet music in the club there. In his spare time he likes to play sports, for example skiing in winter and running in summer. As a nature lover, you get up at four in the morning to watch the sun rise on a mountain.
You want to stay at Zalando and see how customers use your product in the online store. However, this should be the case in a year and a half at the earliest. Metzler has yet to think about what he wants to tackle professionally next. But he says of himself: “I have the heart of a founder and the heart of an engineer.” That is why it is very possible that a new problem will arise in your life that you want to solve.
