Tobias Caterer departs Marks and Spencer for new challenge at fashion creatives specialist Raspberry AI

Tobias Caterer is starting a new position as EMEA Strategic Accounts Lead at Raspberry AI, a generative AI platform for fashion creatives working with the likes of Under Armour, MCM Worldwide, Gruppo Teddy and Li & Fung,

He was previously at Marks & Spencer where he spent just over five years, most recently serving as Digital & Technology Open Innovation Lead.

In a LinkedIn post, he said: “After five years at M&S, the time has come to say goodbye. Having met over 2,500 startups during my tenure in the innovation team, I've decided to join a scale-up which is revolutionising the retail design industry.”

He added: “I'd like to thank Cheryl Liu (Founder and CEO) for giving me this fantastic opportunity, but equally, Daniel Himsworth (Head of Digital & Technology Innovation at M&S) and Jamie Moore (COO at M&S) for supporting my time at M&S and providing mentorship over the years.”.

Funding

Earlier this year, Raspberry AI secured $24 million in Series A funding led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).

Existing investors Greycroft, Correlation Ventures and MVP Ventures also participated in the round, along with angel investors including Gokul Rajaram and Ken Pilot.

Raspberry AI said it would use the cash to accelerate its product development and add engineering, sales and marketing talent to its team.

The company provides an AI image generation platform that helps retail brands in understanding consumer demand and creating highly sought after designs and marketing assets in minutes. The platform enables brands to create full mood boards, lifestyle photography, product photography and technical drawings through text prompts.

“Over the past five years, the combination of fleeting social media trend cycles, the on-demand economy, consumers’ insatiable appetite for newness and the rise of fast fashion has fundamentally changed the way consumers shop,” said Liu.

“As a result, brands and manufacturers are being challenged to change the way they design and develop products. We’re excited to partner with these visionary investors to empower fashion creatives ranging from designers to product developers to marketers with next-generation tools that allow them to create and market best selling products more quickly, efficiently and sustainably.”

2025 RTIH INNOVATION AWARDS

AI will be a key focus area at the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards. which are now closed for entries with our finalists and shortlists being announced last week, celebrate global tech innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our 2024 hall of fame entrants were revealed during an event which took place at RIBA’s 66 Portland Place HQ in Central London on 21st November, and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by comedian Lucy Porter

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “The event is now into its sixth year and what a journey it has been. The awards started life as an online only affair during the Covid outbreak, before launching as a small scale in real life event and growing year on year to the point where we’re now selling out this fine, historic venue.”

He added: “Congratulations to all of our finalists. Many submissions did not make it through to the final stage, and getting to this point is no mean feat. Checkout-free stores, automated supply chains, immersive experiences, on-demand delivery, next generation loyalty offerings, inclusive retail, green technology. We’ve got all the cool stuff covered this evening.”

“But just importantly we’ve got lots of great examples of companies taking innovative tech and making it usable in everyday operations - resulting in more efficiency and profitability in all areas.”

Congratulations to our 2024 winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Lucy Porter, and all those who attended November's gathering. 

For further information on the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards, please fill in the below form and we will get back to you asap.