Globetrotting Models Return Home to Canada to Launch Tech Startup

Models do’t often become entrepreneurs, but such is the case with Matthew and Andrew Coatsworth.

The two globetrotting male models, who hail from Toronto, have launched a Canadian startup. Called Coatsworth’s, it is similar to Pinterest only e-commerce is integrated directly into the platform.

The site is still in beta, but the two cofounders are excited about it already.

“It’s kind of like a Pinterest where everyone goes on and shares images, but on Pinterest, you can’t buy anything,” Matthew, 27, told Metro News. “I talked to a lot of people and they’re pretty frustrated about that; they’ll spend hours and hours trying to find all the cool images they see.”

Matthew lived in London, England, and Andrew, 31, lived in Milan, Italy last year. But both brothers decided to move back to Canada in order to launch this startup. They also put their modelling careers—they’ve modelled for Louis Vuitton, Ralph Lauren, and more—on the backburner to focus on entrepreneurship.

“Canadians are actually one of the most socially engaged countries in the entire world, so we figured, why not create a platform where people can buy and be socially engaged as well?” explained Andrew of Coatsworth’s to Metro News. “I wanted to try and find something that was very lucrative in different countries or different cities that wasn’t happening back in Canada so that I could eventually move back and take full advantage of that opportunity.”

According to the pair, members of Coatsworth’s will dictate what products are sold on the site. Users post photos and the brothers will either stock those items or link to where they could be acquired. And users can “Love” photos to rack up points and become trendsetters.

Sign up here.