Cally scoops top Start Up accolade

Cally Russell won the award at the event held last Thursday in London – he was also listed in the prestigious Forbes 30 under 30 European list this year.

Since launching Mallzee in early 2013 the 28-year-old has won numerous awards and is very much involved in the start up ecosystem in Scotland – often being found giving talks and mentoring early-stage businesses.

Originally from Dunoon, he then went on to study in Dundee before moving to Edinburgh.

Mallzee is the original personalised shopping app – helping users shop save and buy clothes, accessories and shoes from over 200 high street retailers – all in one handy location.

Commonly dubbed the “Tinder for fashion” Mallzee makes shopping fun and helps users save time and money via fully personalised custom feeds (based on previous swiped likes) and price drop notifications when a previously “liked” item drops in price.

Cally said: “We have an exceptional team at Mallzee and its great to receive recognition for all their hard work.

“It’s been a busy year for us as we now have millions of products interacted with daily and continue to add new retailers every week.

“As more and more people do more and more via their mobiles we are excited to be at the forefront of the m-commerce revolution and to be helping users ranging from 16 to 65 years all over the world dress their best.”

Cally said he spotted an opportunity to “fix” the broken experience that was shopping on mobile and Mallzee has been at the forefront of the m-commerce space ever since.

To date the business has raised £3.1 million funding including a £2.4 million round last year led by the Royal Mail Group.

In 2015 he appeared on the BBCs Dragons Den programme and Peter Jones, who offered him the full £75K investment (which Cally actually declined), said you had to be ballsy for Mallzee.

Mallzee is the leading multi-retailer fashion app allowing users to search, compare and buy items from over 200 high street retailers. Using Tinder-style swiping technology, the app is easy to use.

This year is the first Barclays Entrepreneurial Awards aimed at Barclay’s clients to recognise their entrepreneurial successes, leadership and positive impact on the community. The three categories were Start up, Social and Entrepreneur Icon.

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