D2C Innerwear, Loungewear And Activewear Brand Freecultr Raises $5 Mn

D2C clothing brand startup Freecultr has raised $5 Mn in a Series A funding round led by Sixth Sense Ventures.

Founded in 2011 by Sandeep Singh, Rajesh Narkar, Harish Bahl and Sujal Shah, Freecultr sells premium innerwear, loungewear and activewear through its own website as well as through third-party ecommerce retailers. 

The startup plans to deploy the funds primarily for team expansion, specialised consumer outreach, brand building, product and category expansion. 

“Our growth over the last two years has shown that there is a huge consumer appetite for premium, technologically advanced and sustainable intimate wear. With this investment, we are now ready to invest deeper in our product development and marketing to capture a bigger share of this growing market,” said Harshit Vij, a cofounder at Freecultr.

According to Inc42 Plus, the online fashion market is expected to be worth $43 Bn by 2025. Apparel and footwear will dominate the category, contributing almost 77.6% of the total market by then.

“Freecultr’s unique focus on using cutting-edge fabric blends for sustainable yet comfortable Intimate wear has resonated well with our customers. We are thrilled with the confidence Sixth Sense Ventures and our other investors have placed in our brand’s story and are looking forward to building the most innovative comfort wear apparel brand from India,” said Shrey Luthra,  cofounder at Freecultr.

In the recent past, many Indian D2C startups have turned to a ‘Thrasio-style rollup ecommerce’ model where they acquire and scale up popular D2C clothing brands.

The ‘Thrasio-model’ is named after Thrasio, an American startup that pioneered the concept of acquiring small and successful brands and using its own network to scale them up. If you want to learn more about how this works, Inc42 Plus has decoded the model in conversation with Thrasio founder and CEO Carlos Cashman.

Thrasio-style rollup ecommerce unicorn Mensa had acquired digital-first Indian denim brand High Star last month. Earlier last month, it had acquired kidswear brand LilPicks, which is aiming at a gross turnover of INR 500 Cr in the next four years with Mensa on board.

Apart from Mensa, some other brands with the same business model in India include UpScalio, Globalbees, 10Club with a slew of new entrants who have plans to replicate the model across different industries.