Thankyou, Google. You just validated my 12-year startup (and I’ve never felt more free)

A few weeks ago, I officially closed all doors on a business I spent over 12 years building. Blood, sweat, tears – and then some. It was called Puctto (short for Pop Up Clothes To Try On), and long before virtual try-on tech was cool (or even possible at scale), I saw the future.

I knew shoppers would eventually try clothes on their own bodies (or photos) online.

I knew brands could lower returns, reduce cart abandonment, and hopefully stop sending perfectly good clothes to landfill (because – fun fact – it’s often cheaper to dump returned clothes than repackage and resell them… don’t get me started).

I knew this because I felt it. I lived it. I researched it relentlessly.

I was passionate about making a difference – for retailers, for shoppers, and for the planet.

So when Google launched their own fashion virtual try-on feature (literally this week!), I didn’t cry. (Well… maybe just a little at first.)

But then I smiled.

Because after over a decade of trying to convince people it was a no-brainer, it finally is.

And yes – it hurts that I couldn’t sell my IP or the years of insights I gathered.

That the investors and early believers didn’t get a big win or a shiny exit.

That I didn’t get to be the one on the global stage.

I saw the future. I built the tech. I was just too early. Now that the world’s caught up – I’m already onto the next revolution.  Thank you, Google. Let’s go.

There was even a potential buyout on the table just last year – after over 12 months of working closely with a VC. But when his funding didn’t come through, neither did mine. It was another near-miss in a system that often struggles to support ideas that don’t fit the usual mould – especially from female founders with products considered “niche” or “fluffy.”

But honestly? I’m okay with that.

Because I now realise I wasn’t just early to market – I was early to a funding environment that wasn’t built for people like me.

The startup world is still learning how to recognise the value in intuitive, creative, experience-led ideas – the kind that don’t always follow trends, tick traditional boxes, or come from founders who fit the usual mould.

Puctto became my unofficial university degree.

In innovation. In resilience. In how not to do a startup.

It taught me how broken things are.

It taught me to trust my gut, not the gatekeepers.

It taught me that vision without timing is a lonely road.

But it also taught me how to build better from here.

Smarter. Freer. On my own terms.

So, thank you, Google.

Thank you for proving what I’ve known for over a decade: this tech matters.

Thank you for giving me the clarity to close the chapter with my head held high.

This isn’t the end of my story.

It's the start of one that’s so much bigger.

B x

Just a note: What I’ve shared here comes from my own lived experience as a founder – the wins, the failures, and everything in between. It’s simply my perspective, shared in the hope it sparks reflection, conversation, and maybe even a little courage for anyone on their own path.