VIASWEAT: The Company Empowering Women Through Quality Activewear
VIASWEAT is the first activewear line designed specifically for Asian and Asian American Women
Melody Hsu and Audi Hsu, Co-Founders of VIASWEAT, have found their perfect fit in the activewear industry, literally. VIASWEAT is dedicated to the perfection of comfortable and stylish athletic clothing for Asian and Asian American women using quality fabrics.
This past year, the couple was accepted into the SparkLabs Taipei accelerator program at Taiwan Tech Arena. After months of mentorship under the SparkLabs Taipei program, we spoke to them about their experience.
VIASWEAT
What’s your company? What does your company do?
Melody: VIASWEAT is a women’s activewear brand in Taiwan. My husband and I started VIASWEAT in 2015.
What’s your product? What’s the core technology of the product?
Melody: The core tech of our products is our fabrics. Taiwan has excellent functional fabrics and I wanted to create a brand that represented this. Taiwan is often defined by semiconductors and hardware, but textile innovation is the backbone of Taiwan. In past generations, there was a lot of OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturing) and ODM (Original Design Manufacturing) work. However, there was a lack of brands, especially in functional wear. I felt that with activewear as a trending category, VIASWEAT was something that I really wanted to do.
What were some issues you were struggling with before you enrolled in the SparkLabs Taipeiprogram?
Melody: Day in and day out, Audi and I are always bouncing ideas off each other. We wanted to join SparkLabs because there is a lot of global resources that we needed. We need a lot of support in terms of the global network. We also needed fresh input. We want to decrease our own learning curve and talk to experts who have been there and done that. We wanted a clear roadmap of our global-expansion program and some fresh input.
“We wanted to join SparkLabs because there is a lot of global resources that we needed. We need a lot of support in terms of the global network.”
What was your process for enrolling in the SparkLabs program?
Melody: I heard about SparkLabs through a venture partner. They said that SparkLabs was setting up in Taipei. So, I signed up. The interview was a fast, emotional process. We would receive a call and Edgar would ask if we could come in the very next day. After that, we wouldn’t hear from him for a week. Then we would receive another call like ”Can you please come in tomorrow?”. We didn’t get too many details going into each interview. The last call finally came at 10:00 one night. He was saying “Thank you for signing up, we had a lot of people sign up and it was a really tough process.” We were like “Oh no, we didn’t get in.” Finally, he was like “Yeah, you got in.”
How did you find this program helpful?
Melody: The Mentors helped us immensely. We are very fortunate that the mentors we were matched with were very seasoned with what they were doing. They gave really helpful feedback and direction. Second of all was the comradery of the other teams. Your friends and family won’t have any idea why you’re staying up so late or what you’re going through. Between demo days and fundraising, it’s hard for them to relate. It’s good to have people that are up late as well with you. It’s also good to be able to vent after meetings…everyone worked well with each other, even though many of us were in different industries.
“Your friends and family won’t have any idea why you’re staying up so late or what you’re going through.”
After this three-month period, what did you learn?
Melody: We learned how to repackage our brand. We were looking for someone to “draw out the essence” of the brand and help us focus on our strengths. We accomplished a few milestones over the past three or four years that we didn’t even acknowledge, but they REALLY pointed them out and highlighted them.
Speaking with investors was another skill that we learned. We had been speaking with investors for about a year prior to SparkLabs, but for someone to walk us through and help us move things along was really invaluable, especially when it came to global expansion. Fundraising is a whole other language in and of itself.
Since you joined the SparkLabs Taipei program here at TTA, what are your thoughts on the workspace and environment?
Audi: The fact that everyone else is also starting up makes it an excellent ecosystem. It’s like the central hub for Taipei. It’s an attractive location for this ecosystem. This makes it great when investors come for a face to face. The space gives us a one-up.
Melody: The atmosphere is good. There are a drive and motivation to it. The government backing gives it more “oomph”. We also like being in close proximity to the nap room.
“It’s an attractive location for this ecosystem. This makes it great when investors come for a face to face. The space gives us a one-up.”
What’s next for VIASWEAT?
Melody: Secure funding and go outside of Taiwan. We want to represent Taiwan as a lifestyle fashion brand.
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The author, Dustin Craft, is a freelance writer with a background in communication and international business. His main topics are on business and travel.
