B2B Manufacturing Marketplace Fashinza Raises $20 Mn In Series A Funding

Gurugram-based B2B marketplace Fashinza, which connects fashion brands with apparel factories, has raised $20 Mn in Series A funding. The round — a mix of equity and debt — was led by existing investors Accel Partners and Elevation Capital. Other investors in the round were Abu Dhabi’s DisruptAD, Stride Ventures, Alteria Capital, and Tradecred. 

Interestingly, Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor and her husband Anand Ahuja, who is also the founder of fashion brand Bhaane, also participated in the funding.

With fresh money in the kitty, the startup is looking to invest in supply-chain technology and expand the company’s presence and manufacturers’ base globally, especially in the US and West Asia. Previously, in 2020, Fashinza had raised $2.6 Mn from Accel and Elevation as a part of its seed round. 

Founded last year by Abhishek Sharma and Pawan Gupta, Fashinza claims to have more than 400 partner factories across India, Bangladesh, China, and Sri Lanka. It works with brands like Forever21, Noon.com, Centrix Brands, Amaro,Clovia, and Bewakoof.com. The company’s platform provides end-to-end online ordering for brands, complete production tracking from the factory floor, low minimum order quantities, an average production cycle of 6 weeks, and financing solutions too. 

Pawan Gupta, CEO and cofounder, Fashinza, said: “Fashinza has grown over 20x in the last 12 months. Covid has ceased travel and complicated the global apparel supply chain. By 2030, we want to build an environmentally net positive supply chain at a scale that doesn’t even cost extra.” 

While the B2B apparel space has startups like Singapore-headquartered Zilingo ($300 Mn+ in funding) and the US-based Joor ($37 Mn+ in funding), most players in the segment in India have not seen large rounds of funding. For instance, Jaipur-based Wholebox has raised $5 Mn in the past six years, Mumbai-based XSTOK has raised $2 Mn, and Bangalore-based Zoomtail has raised $2 Mn till date.

Akarsh Shrivastava, vice president at Elevation Capital, said that Fashinza is trying to disrupt a $600 Bn market, adding: “Over the past year, Fashinza has been able to design and deliver an offering that addresses multiple issues in the supply chain.“ 

The global business-to-business e-commerce market size was valued at $6.64 Tn in 2020 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.7% from 2021 to 2028, according to a report by Grand View Research.