Investcorp Leads $11.28 Mn Fresh Funding In Online Retailer Bewakoof

SUMMARY

Investcorp provided nearly 90% of funding and would hold around 14% stake in Bewakoof

Bewakoof said its first focus will be to further strengthen its platform

The fresh funds are planned to be used towards investing in technology and to hire new talent

Thane-headquartered online retailer Bewakoof has raised a fresh funding round of INR 80 Cr ($11.28 Mn). The round has been reportedly led by Bahrain’s alternative asset manager Investcorp.

Investcorp provided nearly 90% of funding and would hold around 14% stake in Bewakoof with a seat on the board.

Prabhkiran Singh, cofounder, Bewakoof said that the company’s first focus will be to further strengthen its platform and capture consumer data to improve their experience on the website by using machine learning. “We will be investing in our technology back-end, along with category expansion,” Singh added. The fresh funds are expected to be used for investing in technology and hiring new talent.

Bewakoof was founded in 2012 by Singh and Siddharth Munot. It is a direct-to-consumer online fashion retailer. The company started with its focus on theme-based T-shirts and has now branched out into other categories. This includes hoodies and sweaters, joggers, pants and trousers, footwear, mobile covers, notebooks and backpacks. The firm sells most of its merchandise through its website and mobile application.

“This is the first institutional funding round in the company. The firm has, so far, worked with very little capital and has focused on its bottom line as well as its topline. Therefore, it has been profitable for the last four years and is one of the few internet startups in the country to have done that,” said Gaurav Sharma, co-head of private equity at Investcorp India, as reported.

According to the company website, it has sold over 1 Cr products and over 60 Lakh app downloads.

With the rise of social media and ecommerce platforms, more and more users are buying apparel online, including from homegrown brands. This includes the likes of Chumbak, TheSouledStore, House of Masaba, Disrupt, Happily Unmarried and more, which have grown from small social media pages to big brands that resonate with the youth of India.

The Indian online fashion market is estimated to hit $12 Bn-$14 Bn by 2020, and the market, according to Technavio, is expected to grow “impressively” at a CAGR of around 63% by 2020.