Purple Style Labs, Apoorva Patni and Apurva Salarpuria also participated in the round
The funds will be used to scale infrastructure and hiring
“Right time to bring on board institutional investors,” founder Masaba Gupta says
Mumbai-based fashion label House of Masaba has raised $1 Mn in a funding round led by Flipkart cofounder Binny Bansal.
Purple Style Labs, Apoorva Patni of Patni Group, and Apurva Salarpuria of Salarpuria group also invested in the round. The fresh funds will be used to scale infrastructure, distribution network and hiring.
Founded in 2009 by Masaba Gupta, House of Masaba is a bridge-to-luxury fashion label. It is known for its destination wedding wear and resort wear. Currently, there are 11 exclusive brand outlets in India and the label has a retail footprint in Dubai, the UK, and the US.
Top brands such as Titan, Puma, Fiama Di Wills, Amrapali, Oppo, Chandon, etc have teamed up with the fashion house.
Binny Bansal, cofounder of Flipkart and more recently Xto10X, said, “Masaba has been able to create a great brand backed by her unique designs. She is one of the youngest designers to do so and I believe she is just getting started on building a great business.”
The company has seen 100% growth in revenues over the last three years and had turned profitable in 2016.
Masaba Gupta, creative director and founder, House of Masaba, said, “After being in the business of fashion for 10 years, it was the right time to bring on board institutional investors. I believe that the brand has immense scalability, both domestically and internationally. The idea was to partner with entrepreneurs who have successfully scaled businesses in the country.”
The company now plans to open stores in Ahmedabad, Chandigarh and Lucknow by the year-end.
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.
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, Bewakoof, Disrupt, Happily Unmarried and more, which have grown from small social media pages to big brands which resonate with the youth of India.
With Masaba Gupta’s bollywood influence and her taste of fashion enthralling the generations, the institutional investors onboard create a wider scope for House of Masaba’s next-level growth.
