Former Zomato Exec Mohit Gupta And Myntra Founder Mukesh Bansal’s Venture Lyskraft Bags $26 Mn

Lyskraft, an omnichannel fashion startup floated by former Zomato senior executive Mohit Gupta and Myntra founder Mukesh Bansal, has secured $26 Mn (around INR 216 Cr) in a seed funding round led by Peak XV Partners.

As per ET’s report, the freshly raised capital will help the partnership take forward the plan of building an omnichannel play as a marketplace for premium brands, starting with women’s fashion and subsequently expanding into other lifestyle categories.

Inc42 has reached out to Bansal and Gupta for comments on the development. The story will be updated based on their responses.

Last year, it was reported that both Bansal and Gupta were in the advanced stages of closing a $50 Mn Series A funding round from investors such as Peak XV Partners and Accel at a post-money valuation of $100 Mn.

The startup competes against the likes of Newme, Absolute Brands, Snitch, Styched and Virgio among others.

This round also marks one of the largest early-stage rounds for an Indian startup amid an ongoing funding crunch. 

Bansal, known for his extensive experience in ecommerce, has also invested in Virgio, a fashion platform targeting Gen Z, led by former Myntra executive Amar Nagaram.

Gupta left Zomato in 2022, having previously served as CEO of the company’s food delivery arm before transitioning to the role of co-founder in 2020.

This development comes at a time of a growing focus on Gen Z shoppers among various ecommerce firms, with Flipkart last year introducing SPOYL, a fashion vertical within its app, tailored for this demographic. 

Meanwhile, Myntra has launched FWD, a dedicated fashion portal aimed at attracting 10 million Gen Z users in the next two years.

Earlier this year, GenZ-focussed fashion and apparel startup Newme raised seed funding of INR 45 Cr (around $5.4 Mn) led by venture fund Fireside Ventures, with participation from AUM Ventures, 2AM Ventures and Allin Capital.

As per Inc42’s ‘State of Indian Ecommerce, Q2 2023’ report, the fashion and apparel sector in India was valued at $20 Bn in 2022 and is projected to reach $112 Bn by 2030, constituting over a quarter of the country’s $400 billion ecommerce market.

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