Start-ups are in spotlight again, drawing investor interest and snagging vital funding for their business goals. This is in contrast to the first half of 2023 when fundraising for Indian apparel start-ups remained a challenge. Tough market conditions, lack of larger rounds amidst the absence of top investors and mass layoffs across the ecosystem led to a five-year low in funding for H1 of 2023.
Sportswear company Agilitas Sports, co-founded by ex-Puma India MD Abhishek Ganguly, has bagged funding of Rs. 100 crore from venture capital firm, Nexus Venture Partners in December. The company has raised these funds at a time when it is trying to sign licensing agreements with foreign brands and is in negotiations to buy sportswear companies.
Abhishek Ganguly, Founder, Agilitas Sports said that fresh fund raise will enable the company to accelerate its scale-up trajectory. “Agilitas Sports will be the holding company which will make large and substantial investments on building different lines of businesses while staying rooted in the sportswear segment.”
“We at Nexus Venture Partners are very excited about partnering with Agilitas as they revolutionise the sports market with their comprehensive approach. We are aligned with the vision of the company of Agilitas for propelling a generation through sports,” said Suvir Sujan, Nexus Venture Partners. Other co-founders of Agilitas Sports include former senior executives of Puma India – Atul Bajaj and Amit Prabhu.
Earlier in the year, the company raised approximately Rs. 430 crore. Rs.30 crore was raisedby individual investors, with the remaining Rs.400 crore coming from Convergent Finance LLP, an investment management and advisory firm headed by Harsha Raghavan. Sports footwear is the fastest-growing category of footwear, making for 16 per cent of the total market. By 2030, the size of the Indian sportswear market is expected to have grown by four times.
Similarly, Bengaluru’s D2C men’s fashion brand, Snitch, has secured Rs. 110 crore (approximately US $ 13 million) in Series A funding co-led by SWC Global and IvyCap Ventures, supported by key angel investors. This investment aims to propel Snitch’s expansion in talent, technology and offline
retail initiatives, as stated in a press release. Established four years ago, Snitch offers a wide range of everyday men’s essentials encompassing formal, party, leisure and athleisurewear. It also presents Snitch Plus, catering to plus-sized men, regularly introducing new collections and collaborations through its online platform.
Having surpassed the Rs. 100 crore mark in FY ’23, Snitch anticipates a 100 per cent growth in FY ’24. Competing with brands like UrbanClad, DaMENCH, Bombay Shirt Company and Rare Rabbit, Snitch recently inaugurated its first retail store in Bengaluru. Most of its sales are driven through its website, app, offline stores and third-party marketplaces like Flipkart and Amazon. Snitch aims to establish over 100 offline stores across India by 2028.
Additionally, Indian fashion and lifestyle platform, Absolute Brands and Retail, has secured US $ 2.5 million (approximately Rs. 21 crore) in a seed funding round, led by Capstone Ventures. Other angel investors also participated in this funding drive. The primary objective behind this funding, as per Absolute Brands’ announcement, is to establish a physical retail presence and elevate the omnichannel experience for its customers.
Initiated in 2023 by Vishnu Prasad, Absolute Brands focuses on creating an array of in-house fashion apparel brands, targeting both current and untapped customer segments. Its debut apparel label, Big Hello, specialises in providing stylish and top-quality clothing designed to perfectly suit the unique shapes and contours of plus-size individuals in India. Plans are underway to launch the first batch of Big Hello stores within the next three months, initially in Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad.
| “Agilitas Sports will be the holding company which will make large and substantial investments on building different lines of businesses while staying rooted in the sportswear segment.” Abhishek Ganguly, Co-founder and CEO, Agilitas Sports |
The company has outlined intentions to introduce three new fashion brands, aiming to fulfill unmet consumer needs, tap into fresh market segments and challenge prevailing norms.
By harnessing state-of-the-art technologies and establishing a robust omnichannel retail presence, Absolute Brands aims to redefine the fashion shopping experience. Its strategy involves delivering personalised solutions that deeply resonate with specific preferences, values and individual needs.
It’s worth noting that Absolute Brands may find itself in direct or indirect competition with fashion entities such as Aastey, The Mad Dresser, Hilo Design, Snitch, Flyrobe and Bombay Shirt Company, amongst others.
Investors are keen on backing apparel start-ups this quarter, fuelling their growth and development initiatives.
October saw Showroom B2B, the Indian platform for unbranded clothing, announcing a pre-Series A funding round, raising US $ 6.5 million (approximately Rs. 54 crore). The round was led by Jungle Ventures and featured new investors like Accion Venture Lab, Saison Capital and ICMG Partners. Notably, previous supporters Strive, Gemba Capital, Titan Capital and debt partners Alteria Capital and Stride Ventures continued their backing.
Showroom B2B had previously secured US $ 1.35 million (approximately Rs. 11 crore) in seed funding earlier this year and an angel round of US $ 180,000 (approx Rs. 1.5 crore) in 2021. The newly acquired funds will fuel the expansion of the company’s phygital distribution model and the establishment of experience stores in India’s Tier-2 and Tier-3 markets. Additionally, Showroom B2B will enhance its private labelling capabilities, making premium and affordable fashion accessible to retailers in smaller cities.
Abhishek Dua, Co-founder and CEO of Showroom B2B, shared their plans to fortify their supplier base for private labels, particularly sourced from Bangladesh, highlighting the significant margin gains compared to the regular marketplace.
Founded in 2020 by Abhishek Dua and Shubham Gupta, Showroom B2B initially focused on eco-friendly furniture products but has since evolved into an asset-light business model. It connects retailers with an extensive inventory of unbranded garments from local sources. Showroom B2B has partnered with over 500 garment manufacturers and 3,000 retailers, offering an app-based ordering system with doorstep deliveries.
The company currently operates three experience stores across different regions in the country, facilitating fashion retailers in inspecting manufacturing samples before placing bulk orders.
The Indian handloom ethical clothing brand Dressfolk, announced in October that it raised Rs. 3.3 crore in seed round of funding by All In Capital.
Sidhant Keshwani of Libas, Sidhesh Chauhan of Jade Blue and Riju Jhunjhunwala of RSWM Ltd., are a few other significant investors. The company intends to increase its personnel, operations, distribution channels and product line with the new capital. Aditya Singh, Co-Founder, All In Capital stated, “Dressfolk’s proprietary designs and highly differentiated products are bringing Indian handloom back in vogue.”
“We’re delighted that investors saw the immense potential in our long-term vision of building the most compelling destination for luxurious and high-quality Indian looms,” said Nitin Mehrotra, Founder and CEO, Dressfolk.
He added, “We are proud of the fact we are not only ‘Made in India’ but Made of India”.
Dressfolk serves clients worldwide and collaborates with over 600 weavers and 120 artisans throughout six states. Customers can access merchandise from numerous offline multi-brand and online marketplaces in addition to Dress Folk’s own website.
A number of angel investors, including Vikrampati Singhania from the JK Family Office; FinFirst Advisors; Apurva Ramesh Damani from the Damani Family Office; and Pranav Sanghvi from Petronas participated in the round. The cap table currently includes people like Prabhtej Singh Bhatia, a serial entrepreneur and Co-founder of Falcon; Vidur Kataria, Founder of MasterChow; Arjit Johri of Marshot Ventures; Harbir Singh Banga of Victora Group; Samyak Deora of Deora Group; Adit Desai of Doc Tutorials; and Megha Vishwanath, a former business journalist and marketer.
