TechCrunch Disrupt Start-up Battlefield Live Blog (Round 2)

This is a part of our TechCrunch Disrupt 2011 event coverage. See other rounds from Startup Battlefield here.

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#16:25: OK, round 2 of the start-up battlefield is starting. Judges for round 2: Robin Chan (GX Groupe), Hans Tung (Qiming Ventures), Elton Jiang (NLVC), and Derek Ling (Tianji).

UPcload

Up first: UPcload a site that ensures clothes you buy online fit. These guys got a little screwed, the room is still kind of empty and people are still filtering in after the break as they begin their presentation.

#16:26: UPcload automates sizing by having a user stand, holding a CD, in front of any webcam. The CD is for size calibration. There are a few steps; it looks pretty similar to the process of calibrating a Microsoft Kinect, actually. But quicker. Doing a live demo here on the stage, and it looks pretty good.

After you do all the measurements, you can save this and use that info when you log into various online retailers. It’s free for users, but retailers pay to integrate it into their site.

#16:28: Now they’re checking the size measurements with a real measurement tape to see if it came up with the same numbers in the demo. Real number: 36 neck, computer said: 36.1; 100 neck, computer said 98.1. So it’s pretty accurate.

Also predicts how a given piece of clothing will fit, i.e. this specific shirt will be snug on the chest but long enough. And a social feature, can compare with people of similar body types to look at user-uploaded pics to see how the piece of clothing fit them. This cuts down on the uncertainty of online buying.

#16:33: Today open beta begins in the US. Lots of start-ups have been announcing their beta premieres today, and why not? It’s a good opportunity.

#16:34: How big is the market? Lots of people buy clothes online, but sales of clothes online would be higher if it weren’t for the sizing issue, so this will help raise sales volumes.

Do you need partnerships to the apparel markers and have agreements with them? Yes, we need to work with them to get the specs, but nothing else.

Even before launching, they’ve got North Face working with them, which they say shows the potential of it.

#16:39: This requires a lot of user input too, how do you test that? We tested 130 users and got an 80%+ satisfaction rate, which is better than the industry standard, say the folks at UPcload (not sure that name is going to catch on in the US….)