Saral Kochar graduated from London College of Fashion with a degree in product design and development and has worked with the likes of Li & Fung and American Eagle Outfitters as a production manager. Techpacker, an app that helps fashion designers communicate more effectively with factories, isn’t his first venture. He also founded Indigod, a denim fabric trading company back in 2012.
What is your startup?
It’s an app for fashion designers and factories to work proficiently. It enables fashion designers and product developers to turn in their sketches and mock-ups to be ready for manufacturing in minutes. It also helps to monitor development and make better quality products.
How did you come up with this idea?
The idea came from the problems I faced from online networks that put designers in touch with far flung factories as they more often than not leave it just their – making working relationships all the more liable to break down. Techpacker focuses on making it easier to work together with factories.
Who are you targeting and how big is the market in HK/Asia?
Our target customers are anywhere on the planet microbusinesses and entrepreneurs who not only want to fulfil their fashion dreams but make them become a reality in real-time.With our beta version, we are currently focused on Hong Kong-based fashion designers to test and develop the tools that they need. We are also experimenting with sample rooms that are based in Hong Kong.
What are your futures plans for your startup?
Our future plan is to develop the idea of ‘comfort sourcing’ by making it easy and secure to find reliable people and factories to work together. Besides, we would be adding tools to make it easier to track approvals, control quality and delivery. We would also like to expand into products like footwear, hats, handbags, jewelry and replicate into other industries like toys and electronics.
1 Benefit and 1 Challenge in the HK startup scene?
Benefit：We are a fashion technology startup and Hong Kong is a hub for fashion sourcing globally. Companies doing fashion trade in Hong Kong are well experienced in working with designers around the world. Therefore not only it provides strong development and collaborations but also help us to spread out through them.
Challenges: Difficult to hire highly skilled programmers.
Saral Kochar on Startbase.HK: Saral Kochar
Techpacker on Startbase.HK: Techpacker
