Business & Technology
WNTD launches fashion app with GBP £3 million backing
WNTD has launched an app for fashion and beauty shopping, entering the market with £3 million in backing.
The platform brings together virtual try-on, AI styling and social feedback in a single interface for consumers who discover products across social media, retail sites and physical shops. Users can save inspiration from online sources, in-store visits or everyday life, then use the app to test looks and get opinions before making a purchase.
The launch comes as shopping habits continue to shift away from direct visits to retailer websites. WNTD is positioning itself not as a retailer, but as a layer between discovery and purchase, focused on helping users decide what to buy rather than selling stock itself.
Its tools include virtual outfit and beauty try-ons, AI-generated styling suggestions, price comparison, voice search and a Safari browser extension. The extension lets users save items while browsing and compare products without leaving the page.
The app is aimed at younger shoppers, particularly Gen Z, who increasingly discover fashion through social platforms. WNTD argues that shopping behaviour is fragmented, with users moving between screenshots, saved posts, group chats and retailer apps before deciding whether to buy.
Founding team
WNTD was founded by Lex Deak and developed with Lee Lythe, who also worked with Deak on Basket, a consumer app that reached more than 300,000 users in the UK, according to the company. Basket focused on organising purchases, tracking prices and helping users find deals. WNTD builds on that background with a broader focus on discovery and decision-making in fashion and beauty.
Deak has worked across consumer technology and fintech and has also been involved in early-stage investment. WNTD reflects his view that shopping journeys no longer follow the structured path assumed by many retailers.
“Retail is still built for linear shopping journeys but Gen Z doesn’t shop that way,” said Lex Deak, Founder of WNTD. “People discover inspiration everywhere – on social media, in magazines, on the street-and they ask friends before they buy. WNTD brings that behaviour into one place so people can explore their style and make better decisions.”
Lythe said the product was designed to reflect changing consumer behaviour in fashion discovery.
“Technology is changing how people discover fashion,” said Lee Lythe, chief marketing officer at WNTD. “WNTD gives people a way to experiment with their style, see how something looks on them, and get feedback before they decide to buy.”
Decision layer
WNTD describes the app as a decision engine spanning the fashion ecosystem. In practice, that means users can collect images and product ideas from different places, build looks around them, and compare options before completing a purchase on a retailer’s site.
That approach reflects a broader shift in online shopping, where discovery often begins on platforms that do not complete the sale. Consumers may first encounter a product through short-form video, creator content or group chat recommendations, then search elsewhere for alternatives, prices and reviews. WNTD is trying to keep more of that process within one app.
Social validation is central to that model. The app lets users send looks to friends or a wider community for feedback, adding another step between inspiration and transaction. In fashion and beauty, where fit, appearance and confidence can shape buying decisions, that feedback loop is likely to be one of the platform’s main points of differentiation.
Virtual try-on tools have become more common across fashion, eyewear and cosmetics, while generative AI has opened new ways for users to visualise products and styles. WNTD is aiming to combine those functions with browsing, price awareness and social input in one consumer product.
According to the company, more than 70% of Gen Z discovers products through social channels rather than retail websites. That trend has pushed brands and shopping platforms to rethink how products are found and evaluated, particularly in categories such as fashion and beauty, where visual presentation and peer response play a significant role.
WNTD is available on iOS as a standalone consumer app backed by £3 million in investment.
New store DartSmart set up shop in unit 14 of Templars Square Shopping Centre, Cowley, with a grand opening event on Saturday, August 1.
The small, family-run business has been launched by Dwaine Jackson, an avid player who wanted to create Oxfordshire’s ‘new home of darts’.
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He is supported by his wife, Jay, who helped setting up the store while on maternity leave with their nine-month-old son, from her job as a personal assistant.
Mr Jackson said: “I have a passion for darts and I play regularly in the local Oxford leagues, but I noticed I needed to travel out of Oxford for accessories, or order online with delivery costs and longer wait times.
“So, I wanted to bring an accessible darts shop central to Oxford and surrounding towns to fulfil the needs of the local dart players.”
DartSmart sells premium equipment and accessories for all levels, for beginners to professionals, stocking major brands.
It also offers a trade discount for pubs, clubs and league venues, to support the sport the owner loves so much, and has two dedicated oches so customers can try before they buy.
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A spokesperson for Templars Square Shopping Centre said: “Whether you’re inspired by world-class players like Luke Littler or picking up your first set of darts, DartSmart has everything you need to enjoy the game, from darts and dartboards to flights, shafts and cases.
“Pop in and give them a warm Templars Square welcome.”
DartSmart is open from Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 6pm, and until 4pm on Sundays.
SOFIAH NICHOLE SALIVIO
News Editor
OneAdvanced has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Cosine to join the Lumen Sovereign Coalition, which is working on what the companies describe as Britain’s first fully sovereign frontier AI model.
The agreement brings OneAdvanced into a group of companies and institutions helping to shape the model for regulated and essential service sectors. Its role will include contributing use cases, operational requirements, testing scenarios and deployment feedback from industries where its software is already in use.
Those sectors include healthcare, government, justice, education, care and business services. OneAdvanced will use that experience to help define how the model should operate in settings where security, governance and operational rules can limit the use of foreign-hosted AI systems.
Cosine, a London-based AI laboratory, is developing the Lumen Sovereign model with support from a wider industry coalition. Other members include BAE Systems, Babcock International Group, BT, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, LSEG, NatWest Group, PwC, The Alan Turing Institute and Vodafone.
The project is backed by the UK Government’s Sovereign AI Programme, which has committed GBP £500 million. The model is due to be trained using the Isambard supercomputer in Bristol.
OneAdvanced’s involvement follows its work on a healthcare large language model developed with NVIDIA and trained on NHS primary care data. That system was designed to improve primary care triage, and the company is positioning it as evidence of its experience in applying AI to sector-specific operational needs.
In healthcare, OneAdvanced says its software supports more than 40 million NHS patients across NHS 111, GP practices and trusts. It also works across local government, education, legal services, transport and supply chains.
Sector input
The tie-up reflects a broader push in the UK technology sector to develop AI systems that can be hosted, trained and audited within the country. For organisations operating in heavily regulated environments, questions about where a model runs, what data it is trained on and who can review its operation have become increasingly important in procurement and deployment decisions.
Cosine says the coalition is intended to ensure the model is shaped by organisations that will use it in real operating environments, rather than by technical teams alone. That means feeding in practical constraints from sectors such as healthcare, local government and legal services.
Cosine framed that goal around control and auditability.
“We’re building Lumen Sovereign because we think the UK needs frontier AI it can actually control: where the model runs, what data trained it, who can audit it. That only works if we build it alongside the organisations running the country’s real, regulated infrastructure. OneAdvanced helps us achieve that goal. Their experience with the NHS, local government, education, and thousands of legal practices means they bring insights into the operational constraints a sovereign model needs to actually be useful,” said Alistair Pullen, Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer of Cosine.
Practical focus
For OneAdvanced, the move also underlines its argument that the next stage of AI adoption in critical services will depend less on general model performance claims and more on whether systems can fit existing workflows, governance standards and data-handling requirements.
The company has been advocating for AI systems designed around UK data residency and domestic control over infrastructure. Its software footprint in public and regulated services gives it a route into organisations that may be cautious about deploying overseas-hosted models in sensitive settings.
Simon Walsh set out that position in his remarks on the coalition agreement.
“We have long advocated sovereign AI as the safest and most secure way for UK organisations to leverage the transformative power of AI in their flow of work. Through our work with NVIDIA to develop the UK’s first sovereign healthcare large language model, trained on NHS primary care data to improve patient triage outcomes, we have seen first-hand the importance of combining advanced technology with deep sector knowledge, robust governance and a clear understanding of the workflows organisations rely on every day. That is why we are delighted to join the Lumen Sovereign coalition.
“Organisations in the UK’s highly regulated and essential service sectors need AI that is not only powerful, but secure, trusted and designed around the realities of the environments in which it will operate. We look forward to working with Cosine and the wider coalition to help turn that ambition into practical capability,” said Walsh.
The club will continue working with AWBS, which will remain as the club’s Official Substitution Sponsor until the end of the 2027/28 season.
Lee Barton, head of revenue at Oxford United, said: “We’re thrilled to announce this enhanced multi-year agreement that will see AWBS continue as our Official Substitution Sponsor.
“We look forward to developing the relationship further during the 2026/27 season.”
AWBS is one of the largest suppliers of building and landscaping materials in Oxfordshire and Wiltshire, with three branches.
The company also has extensive showrooms, a fleet of delivery vehicles, and a dedicated landscape installation service.
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