We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Nadia Zueva. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Nadia below.

Alright, Nadia thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

The idea for Aesty came to me during my travels. For the past two years, I’ve been living out of two suitcases, constantly moving from one country to another. Each time I unpacked, I felt frustration. Half of my clothes — beautiful as they were — just sat there, unworn, because I didn’t know how to mix and match them. It felt wasteful and made me question why I was carrying around pieces I barely used. I realized this wasn’t just my problem; a lot of people struggle with making the most of what they already own.

That’s when it clicked. People don’t just need more clothes; they need help understanding what they already have, how to wear it, and what’s actually worth adding to their wardrobe. It made me realize that e-commerce and fashion shopping today are fundamentally broken. Most shopping platforms push endless options, often resulting in impulse buys that don’t fit into our lives or our style. People buy more but wear less, ending up with cluttered wardrobes and frustration.

I wanted Aesty to be different — to create a shopping experience that truly understands each user. By learning their style habits, color preferences, and the pieces they actually wear, Aesty offers hyper-personalized recommendations, guiding users on what to wear and what to buy. We help people discover brands they’ll genuinely love, not just for one season, but as part of their unique style journey.

What excites me most is that Aesty goes beyond pushing more products. It make users to build a style they truly love, make smarter choices, and find pieces that resonate with them. With Aesty, we’re rethinking fashion shopping from the ground up — making it personal, sustainable, and enjoyable.

Nadia, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m Nadia Zueva, an AI developer turned fashion-tech entrepreneur. My journey into this industry began with a personal frustration – despite having a closet full of clothes, I often struggled to put together outfits I felt good in when traveling. This made me realize that people don’t just need more clothes, they need better tools to understand and style the pieces they already own.

Inspired by this insight, I co-founded Aesty, an AI-powered app that helps users organize their wardrobes and make smarter purchasing decisions. I teamed up with my husband Andrei, a skilled developer, and our friend Kristina, who has a ton of background in fashion. Andrei’s technical expertise coupled with Kristina’s fashion know-how gave us the perfect mix of tech and style.

With Aesty, we’re not just helping people shop – we’re transforming the way they think about their clothes. The app learns each user’s unique preferences and habits, offering hyper-personalized recommendations that introduce them to brands and styles they’ll truly love. Our goal is to make fashion more personal, sustainable, and enjoyable.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

In the beginning, we had a $0 marketing budget, absolutely nothing to spend on ads or flashy campaigns. So, we took a leap and started reaching out to micro-influencers, expecting a few polite declines at best. But what happened next was surprising: so many of them loved our vision for Aesty and shared their opinions for free! Their authentic support became the foundation of our early growth, bringing in our very first customers and proving that genuine connections can spark a community – even without a budget.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

I met my co-founders, Andrei and Kristina, in unique ways that laid the foundation for Aesty. Andrei, who is also my husband, and I had already worked together on different startups, so we knew each other’s strengths well. Kristina, on the other hand, reached out to me on social media after discovering the project. She loved the concept so much that she suggested we collaborate. For the first four months, we worked side by side without ever meeting in person, but our shared passion for Aesty and constant communication turned us into close friends and eventually, co-founders

Contact Info:

• Website: https://aesty.ai
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nestymee
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nadia-zueva/
• Twitter: https://x.com/nestymee

Image Credits

all pictures are mine or made during Antler accelerator