GLAMI appoints new CEO and establishes GLAMI Ventures, an e-commerce investment fund of 5 million EUR

As part of its venture fund, GLAMI aims to invest in customer-oriented product discovery projects, companies utilizing artificial intelligence (AI )technologies, software that helps develop the entire e-com ecosystem, and circular economy projects. GLAMI Group names Ján Kešelák as its new CEO, effective November 2022.

Jan Kešelák becomes GLAMI’s next Chief Executive Officer. Previously, Kešelák served as the company's Chief Revenue Officer, while in the past 5 years he has been responsible for the expansion of GLAMI into Greece, the Adriatic countries, and the Baltic countries. In his new role, he will complete the company's transformation from a fashion search engine to an artificial intelligence-driven fashion discovery platform. Tomáš Hodboď, the founder of GLAMI and current partner of the investment group Miton takes over as Head of GLAMI Ventures which plans to invest in companies that facilitate the discovery of products online, as well as companies that use artificial intelligence in e-commerce.
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The new CEO will complete the integration of the Italian Stileo
The management change corresponds to the short-term and long-term vision of GLAMI, which is to complete the integration of the Italian Stileo successfully. The strategic player in the Italian market with a 30-member team was acquired by GLAMI in the spring of 2022 and it was Kešelák who focused on integration within the development of marketing and business teams. Having served as GLAMI's Chief Revenue Officer over the last year, and having helped expand the company to seven countries previously, including Croatia, Slovenia, and the Baltics, he is well positioned to lead the company to a successful last quarter, despite all the challenges that e-commerce will still present in 2022. "I am confident that Janko will be able to lead GLAMI to the set vision" ads Hodboď.

GLAMI, a technological leader in fashion
In the long term, both strategic decisions - the new CEO and the establishment of the investment fund - outline GLAMI's vision for the next five years. "Our goal is to accelerate the transformation from a search engine, as you know it now, to a platform for discovering fashion, based on artificial intelligence (AI) and cutting-edge machine learning, which we create ourselves," Kešelák explains. GLAMI aims to strengthen its position in the existing markets and maintain its position as the most visited and user-friendly fashion website in Central Europe in the years to come. "Automatic tagging and categorization of products, display of similar items, and personalization of the range of products are all functions for which we have developed our own solution at GLAMI. As such, we provide every user with a unique experience of using our platform," assures Kešelák, pointing out that GLAMI is just in the beginning!

GLAMI Ventures will invest in companies that leverage artificial intelligence to make e-commerce more efficient
The role of GLAMI Ventures will be pivotal in the entire roadmap. This is also where the next steps of the founder of GLAMI, Tomáš Hodboď, are headed. "I will continue to support GLAMI from the role of a board member, at the same time I will help with the search for strategic investment projects in GLAMI Ventures," he explains.
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This fund, which is being allocated 5 million euros for the first year, is aimed at developing artificial intelligence in e-commerce, supporting projects that help consumers choose and purchase products online, and supporting circular economy projects. "GLAMI is able to generate profit, which we can use for long-term investments and projects. As an investment, we can support not only end-customer-oriented product discovery projects, but also expand our scope to include technologies and software that help develop the entire ecosystem. We are currently looking, for example, at opportunities in the area of ​​the circular economy, B2B e-commerce, or AI SaaS companies" suggests Hodboď, that at the same time continues his activities as one of the partners in the Miton investment group.
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About GLAMI
GLAMI was founded in 2013 by Tomáš Hodboď and Michal Jirák as a search engine for everything related to fashion. Every day, GLAMI connects thousands of shoppers with brands and e-shops in one place. With smart product categorization and a fashion selection tailored to each individual, GLAMI makes discovering and shopping for fashion simple.
Today, customers can find almost 17 million products from more than 30 thousand brands in the GLAMI catalog. GLAMI Group already operates in 14 countries around the world.