So, I’ve been turning this over in my head for some time and simply wish to nerd out with y’fascinated by a 2nd. There’s one thing we want to discuss, and I promise it’s juicier than your conventional model forecast.
Let’s be fair: navigating the arena of plus measurement model funding can really feel like seeking to strut in stilettos on gravel. In the event you’re a plus measurement founder seeking to construct one thing gorgeous, daring, and community-driven… and also you’re hitting brick partitions in the case of investment? You’re now not on my own. We see you, we really feel you, and we’ve were given your again.
This isn’t simply every other thinkpiece stuffed with stats and well mannered ideas. No ma’am. It is a come-to-the-table second. We’re speaking about actual obstacles, actual bias, and the true billion-dollar alternative that’s been hiding in simple sight. We’re going to drag again the curtain on why plus measurement model has been overpassed by way of traders, why such a lot of of our faves are compelled to bootstrap after which shut, and what it’s going to take to turn the script.
Whether or not you’re a founder making an attempt to determine your subsequent transfer, an investor curious in regards to the area, or simply any individual questioning why your measurement continues to be thought to be an afterthought… you’re in the proper position. We’re strolling thru this in combination. You’ll depart this learn feeling clearer, bolder, and far more provided to suggest, make investments, and display up in an area that’s lengthy past due for its second.
So, snatch your espresso, your pocket book, or your favourite lip gloss… we’re coming into it.
Why Is It So Laborious for Plus Dimension Founders to Get Investment?
If the plus measurement model funding area is obviously thriving and the marketplace call for is there, why are such a lot of plus measurement founders nonetheless suffering to protected investment? In fact layered; and it’s now not almost about the cash. It’s about who traders be expecting to peer on the desk, and what types of companies they imagine “severe.” Spoiler alert: that bias runs deep.
Let’s get started with the large photo. For years now, women folk, particularly women folk of colour, have won only a fraction a bet capital investment. Feminine-only founding groups traditionally obtain simply 2–3% of all VC capital, in keeping with PitchBook and 4Founders Discussion board; and that stat hasn’t budged a lot. In truth, around the previous 30 years, women-led startups have averaged simply 2.4% of overall challenge investment, as reported by way of the Harvard Kennedy Faculty.
Even in 2025, when women-led exits just about doubled, the true amount of cash flowing into female-founded companies nonetheless hovered round that very same tiny 2% mark, in keeping with Feminine Founders Fund.
But it surely doesn’t forestall at gender. Now layer in look bias… one thing maximum traders received’t admit, however that displays up in decision-making each day. Research have discovered that feminine founders ceaselessly obtain 14% much less investment than male founders for the very same pitch. That hole widens to 22% much less if the investor has had a unfavorable enjoy with a woman-led startup ahead of, in keeping with Yale Insights.
That is the place issues get even messier for plus measurement founders. Mission capital is constructed on “trend matching”; in different phrases, traders fund what seems to be acquainted. And sadly, the everyday “founder symbol” they’re used to? White, skinny, male, hoodie-wearing, and directly out of Stanford. In the event you don’t fit that psychological mildew, you’ve were given an uphill fight ahead of you even open your pitch deck!
Extra dauntingly, for plus measurement women folk, the demanding situations are doubled. You’re going through gender bias and weight stigma; an invisible however tough barrier that many founders don’t even notice they’re up towards. Traders may now not say it out loud, but if a plus measurement girl walks right into a pitch room, she ceaselessly has to turn out now not simply her trade case, however her competence, her dedication, and her proper to be taken critically. There’s a deep, unstated query of whether or not she “suits” the founder archetype; and that’s the type of coded considering that assists in keeping capital out of succeed in for game-changing concepts.
Now, you may assume, “Smartly, what about feminine traders? Wouldn’t they be extra open to backing different women folk, particularly the ones innovating within the plus measurement area?” In idea, sure. However in observe, there’s a irritating paradox.
Some research display that after women folk are funded by way of feminine traders of their earliest rounds, they’re if truth be told much less more likely to elevate follow-on capital in comparison to the ones sponsored by way of males.
Why? As a result of belief bias.
Different traders might suppose that the unique funding used to be made in line with affinity somewhat than benefit; casting doubt at the trade as an alternative of reinforcing it. It’s a twisted double bind: you’re too “other” for male traders, however investment from women folk doesn’t at all times lift the similar clout in follow-on rounds.
All of this makes bootstrapping the default trail for lots of plus measurement model founders. With conventional capital so onerous to get admission to, maximum flip to non-public financial savings or aspect hustles to release their manufacturers. In step with the Feminine Founders Fund, the common startup mortgage authorized for a girl is just below $60,000, whilst the common for male marketers is greater than $156,000. That’s now not a small hole; it’s a canyon.
With out early capital, those founders ceaselessly develop slower, tackle extra possibility, and leave out important home windows to scale or enlarge ahead of pageant floods in.
After which there’s the overall kicker: misclassification. Traders ceaselessly don’t know the place to “position” plus measurement model manufacturers. Many lump them into the normal retail class; low-margin, inventory-heavy, seasonal, and dangerous.
Those traders don’t see the tech-enabled innovation, the scalable doable, or the cultural shift powering this motion. They may additionally suppose that measurement inclusion is a fleeting pattern, somewhat than what it if truth be told is: a long-overdue trade correction and a shopper call for that’s right here to stick.
And whilst we’re right here, let’s discuss consolidation. During the last few years, one of the crucial maximum recognizable plus measurement shops had been bought, merged, or absorbed by way of greater shops and VC corporations. From a capital and development perspective, that indicators transparent marketplace worth. However for indie designers and small manufacturers, it raises some massive questions.
What occurs when the giants purchase up the gap? Does it prohibit innovation or make it tougher for newbies to carve out room? Or does it create recent alternatives for area of interest voices to provide what massive manufacturers nonetheless can’t, authenticity, network, and magnificence that if truth be told suits?
As a result of let’s be actual, when the whole thing will get corporatized, customers get started yearning one thing actual once more. And that’s the place smaller, founder-led manufacturers shine. However to compete, they want greater than gross sales from us within the plus measurement model area, they want capital… and the right kind room to develop.
And since they don’t perceive the gap, some traders incorrectly label those manufacturers as “boutique” or “area of interest,” although we’re speaking a couple of multi-hundred-billion-dollar international marketplace.
So, to recap? Plus measurement founders are strolling into rooms constructed to put out of your mind them; wearing companies with huge upside, whilst having to leap thru hoops no person else even sees. The deck is stacked, however the sport isn’t over. It simply method we’ve were given to play it smarter, louder, and extra unapologetically.
And we’re gonna assist you to just do that.
What Founders Wish to Know (and How you can Display Up Able)
First issues first: your online business isn’t a pity venture. It’s now not a charity case. Your logo belongs on the funding desk simply up to any tech bro with an app that does the similar factor 5 others already do. So how do you get traders to peer that? Let’s communicate technique.
You want to understand your numbers; now not simply the lovable buyer depend or your newest social media succeed in, however the big-picture marketplace tale. This trade is rising. The worldwide plus measurement clothes marketplace used to be valued at over $311 billion in 2023, with projections that it would succeed in $412 billion by way of 2030, in keeping with Grand View Analysis. Some forecasts are much more competitive; Allied Marketplace Analysis predicts this marketplace will move $960 billion globally by way of 2033. That’s now not small; that’s severe development.
And but… traders are nonetheless treating it like an afterthought.
Founders, your activity is to bridge that wisdom hole. Carry the receipts. Speak about buyer retention, moderate order worth, repeat acquire charges, and the way you’re now not simply construction a logo; you’re construction a network. And that network? They spend. They suggest. They keep dependable after they really feel noticed.
Additionally, it’s now not sufficient to mention you serve the plus measurement buyer; you want a singular perspective.
Are you doing are compatible innovation? Customized materials? Inclusive sizing throughout pattern classes no person else touches? Is tech a part of your providing? Suppose virtual are compatible gear, digital try-ons, data-driven measurement prediction. These items set you aside and make your logo extra investable.
Most significantly, don’t wait till you want cash to start out investor conversations. Construct the ones relationships early, like now. Apply traders who center of attention on inclusion, the way forward for retail, or client tech. Get heat introductions. Observe your pitch. Display traction. And be transparent about what you’re inquiring for, why, and the way that capital will assist you to scale sensible.
And a snappy tip: be able to problem the assumptions within the room. Some traders might suppose your buyer isn’t aspirational or that plus measurement equals discount-only. That’s the place you are available to reframe the narrative. The plus measurement consumer needs luxurious. She needs pattern. She needs increased fundamentals, commentary items, and high-touch provider. And she or he merits it all.
However What About Ozempic?
Sure, let’s cross there… as a result of we all know any individual’s already whispering about it. With the upward thrust of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy, there’s been a large number of noise about what this implies for the way forward for plus measurement model. Will the marketplace shrink? Will call for fade? Is that this the start of the tip?
Deep breath: We’ve been right here ahead of.
Take note phen-phen? SlimFast? Atkins? Each decade brings a brand new “answer” to fatness, and each time, we see the trade panic… after which soar again. As a result of right here’s what doesn’t alternate: our bodies are available all sizes, folks will at all times want trendy, well-fitting garments, and weight reduction developments don’t erase the desire for model that facilities and celebrates everybody.
Now, don’t get it twisted… GLP-1s are no doubt impacting the retail panorama. In step with Affect Analytics, over 400 million devices of attire might be misaligned in the following few years if manufacturers don’t adapt their measurement curves. And sure, measurement combine methods are already transferring; what was once a 1-2-2-1 (small to very large) ratio is leaning extra towards 2-2-1-1, as a result of smaller sizes are promoting quicker.
Large manufacturers are reacting. Some are scaling again plus choices or restructuring them utterly. However trade professionals are pushing again onerous. Mallorie Dunn, a manner professor at FIT and fashion designer at the back of SmartGlamour, informed CNBC: “Outlets and producers must completely now not be making much less plus measurement clothes as a result of GLP‑1 medication… plus measurement consumers are grossly underserved because it stands.” She additionally identified that whilst 68–72% of U.S. customers put on plus sizes, the class solely accounts for 12–18% of earnings in lots of instances.
So no, plus measurement model isn’t on its approach out; it’s evolving, because it at all times has. And if the rest, now’s the time to double down on innovation, are compatible generation, and inclusive design. As a result of it doesn’t matter what the headlines say… that is nonetheless a multi-billion greenback marketplace.
Why Traders Wish to Reconsider the Plus Dimension Type Area
In the event you’re an investor and also you’ve made it this some distance, thanks. Now let’s discuss why your portfolio could be lacking out.
There’s a significant disconnect between what the marketplace needs and what will get funded. Whilst greater than 68% of U.S. women folk put on a measurement 14 or above, just a sliver of manufacturers cater to them with taste, consistency, and care. And when new manufacturers do attempt to release, they ceaselessly lack the capital to scale. That’s a lose-lose for all sides.
Via overlooking plus measurement model, traders are strolling clear of a high-growth, high-loyalty, and vastly underserved client team. And that’s now not simply unhealthy trade; it’s a overlooked alternative for affect and innovation. Plus measurement founders deliver lived enjoy, untapped concepts, and an instantaneous line to an target market that’s able to spend.
Backing a logo on this area isn’t a charity transfer; it’s an influence play. It’s sensible. It’s future-focused. And it’s precisely the place your bucks can create actual disruption. So, get curious. Ask questions. And get started having a bet on founders who don’t appear to be the ultimate ten you sponsored.
And good day… for those who’re now not positive the place to start out? That’s the place I are available. As a strategic guide and the pressure at the back of The Curvy Fashionista, I’m right here to lend a hand traders and types stand up to hurry, see the white area, and faucet into this game-changing marketplace. Name me. Rent me. Let’s communicate alternatives, affect, and find out how to make your subsequent transfer on this area your smartest one but.
The Long term Is Curvy (and Fundable)
In fact, the plus measurement model global is greater than able. Founders are construction. Consumers are spending. The runway is slowly catching up. And now, we simply want capital to catch the hell up too.
Whether or not you’re a founder mapping your subsequent transfer or an investor questioning the place the white area is… that is it. The marketplace is very large. The network is dependable. The tales are compelling. And the ROI? In the event you play it proper, it’s beneficiant.
The time for alternate isn’t down the street; it’s at this time. So, let’s fund boldly. Let’s construct another way. Let’s in the end give plus measurement model the funding power it merits.
As a result of this isn’t almost about model; it’s about transferring tradition, centering inclusion, and making area the place there’s been silence.
Let’s thoughts our trade… and make it inclusive, successful, and strong.
