Myles’s entrepreneurial journey hit the fast lane after his appearance on BBC’s Dragon’s Den back in February saw him secure a £35K investment from Steven Bartlett for his personalised credit card company, Haze Cards.

This was a pivotal moment for Myles that led to an overwhelming response for his business. However, the rapid growth exposed a significant challenge: scaling a business that produced highly personalised products.

“When selling customised cards and wallets we realised how many people loved custom or configurable items but it’s incredibly difficult to sell these products online due to software limitations,” acknowledged Myles. “We tried loads of Shopify apps that enabled us to offer a customisation portal to our customers, but the quality of those apps was awful.”

This gap in the market sparked an idea to create something better. So, in March 2023, Haze Cards was sold, and Myles made a pivot to a SaaS company, now called Haze, focusing instead on building a product configurator plugin that integrates with every major e-commerce marketplace and allows merchants to easily sell complex or customised products.

Haze started developing a 2D product configurator to be integrated with platforms like Shopify and Etsy. This configurator aims to tackle issues faced by merchants selling personalised products, such as customer disputes over design specifics.

An innovative aspect of this solution is an AI engine that converts standard image files into print-ready formats, eliminating the need for a designer intermediary.

The journey didn't stop with 2D configurators. Recognising a gap in the market for affordable 3D configurators, the team ventured into developing a cost-effective solution. They collaborated with CAD/CAM experts to create an engine that significantly reduced file sizes without compromising quality, enhancing load times and user experience. Their product offers numerous, easy to use customisation options.

“We are working with some of the best 3D developers who build configurable models for the oil industry, and we’ve brought their experiences over to the e-commerce industry,” notes Myles.

Just before his 20th birthday, Myles set a goal to raise £250,000, having already developed a rough Minimum Viable Product (MVP). By the end of June, he achieved a pre-money valuation of £2.5 million. Despite interest from notable investors like FFC Capital and various family offices, he intentionally limited the fundraising to avoid overcapitalisation.

Transitioning from a product-based business to a software-focused venture has certainly brought its own unique set of challenges. “At first, I was hit with the corporate side of things, in terms of understanding investment and raising investment. As well as being comfortable talking with older, more experienced people.

“You know, two years ago I was in my university dorm, it’s pretty crazy but also exciting.”

With plans for a full beta launch by the end of December and a live launch on Shopify and other platforms in January, Myles’s vision for the direction of the company is clear. They are also exploring partnerships with platforms like Alibaba.com to further enhance its offering.

There are also plans to integrate OpenAI in the hopes to build one of the first AI product configurator tools as well.