Masira: Pitching a $300K Raise for a Sustainable Fashion Marketplace

Fashion discovery today is fragmented. Shoppers jump between apps for inspiration, resale, rentals, and sustainability checks just to find one great piece. But can a platform built to unify fashion discovery and sustainable shopping convince investors it can become the next generation marketplace for conscious consumers? In this episode of Capital Calling, Samira Salifu and Rukaiah Edhah, Co-Founders of Masira, pitch a startup building a fashion-tech platform designed to simplify how people discover and style sustainable clothing. Masira functions as a fashion search engine and off-price marketplace, helping consumers discover pieces from vetted brands while also showing how each item can be styled into complete outfits. By combining AI-powered search, creator-led styling content, and access to excess inventory from fashion brands, the platform aims to reduce waste while helping shoppers build cohesive wardrobes instead of isolated purchases. Masira sits at the intersection of sustainable fashion, creator-led commerce, and AI-driven discovery, allowing shoppers to describe what they want in natural language and instantly see curated items along with multiple outfit combinations that show how each piece fits into a real wardrobe. At the same time, the company provides brands with a new distribution channel to sell excess inventory that might otherwise go unsold. Across the table, investors Michelle Kwok of Draper Associates, Michael Nogen of Overton Venture Capital, and Vansh Langer of Pioneer Fund engage with the pitch as it unfolds. They evaluate Masira’s marketplace dynamics, creator-driven growth strategy, supply acquisition from fashion brands, and whether the founders can build a scalable platform in the rapidly evolving fashion-tech ecosystem while raising $300K to bring the product to market. Episode Chapters 0:00 Introduction 1:28 Founder Pitch 2:29 Live Demo 5:22 Investor Q&A 17:35 Investor Debrief 26:19 On-Call Room 35:35 Investor Verdict 39:50 Outro & Disclaimer Capital Calling provides a behind-the-scenes look at a real pitch from both sides of the table. Each episode begins with a live founder pitch and product demo, followed by direct investor questioning. After the pitch, investors enter into a private debrief conversation where they debate the opportunity openly: without the founder present. The founder, on the other hand, enters the On-Call Room to discuss the pitch one-on-one from their perspective. Then, the investors give their verdicts, where feedback is delivered candidly and decisions are made. Produced by Coeus Collective in partnership with the NYU Stern Berkeley Center for Entrepreneurship, Capital Calling offers founders, operators, students, and investors an unfiltered look at how early-stage investment decisions actually happen, and what separates compelling ideas from fundable companies. Founders pitch live. Investors decide. 🔔 Subscribe to Coeus Collective on YouTube:    / @coeuscollective   📰 Early Access newsletter: https://coeuscollective.beehiiv.com/ 📲 Follow us everywhere: @CoeusCollective Special thanks to the NYU Stern School of Business Berkeley Center for Entrepreneurship. Follow @nyuinnovation for updates on their programs. Hosted by Antonio Di Meglio and Leon Li DISCLAIMER: The Capital Calling podcast, and any related media properties produced by Coeus Collective, are provided solely for informational and educational purposes. Nothing presented in this episode should be construed as an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities, investments, or financial products. Coeus Collective does not provide investment advice, and all opinions expressed are those of the hosts or guests at the time of recording.