The Mainstreet Marketplace Secures Funding To Promote Sneaker Culture

The Mainstreet Marketplace, a platform for reselling sneakers, footwear and other fashion goods from brands across the world, has raised $2 Mn (around INR 16 Cr) in seed funding from a clutch of investors, angel investors and social media influencers.

Some of the bigger names that participated in the funding round include Deepinder Goyal’s First Lap LLP, Gruhas Proptech, a venture fund of Zerodha’s Nikhil Kamath and Abhijeet Pai and Udaan cofounder Sujeet Kumar, among others.

Vedant Lamba, the founder of the platform, took to Twitter to announce the deal on Sunday (June 25).

Founded in 2017 as a YouTube channel, The Mainstreet Marketplace offers footwear and clothing from brands such as Nike, Adidas, Crocs, Supreme, Dior and so on, in a customer-to-business-to-customer (C2B2C) model which sees customers reselling products they own on the platform, much like OLX or eBay.

Lamba transformed the YouTube channel to an online platform, raising $125K in seed funding from angel investors last year, including CRED’s Kunal Shah.

The Mumbai-based startup takes a commission on reselling sneakers, which have found a significant market for collectors over the years. A pair of sneakers available on Mainstream can range between INR 9,000 to INR 8.25 Lakhs, though most of the sneakers sell for between INR 9,000 to INR 1.89 Lakhs.

The Mainstreet Marketplace competes with VegNonVeg, Superkicks, Thrifter and several individuals who resell sneakers.

In an interaction with the ET, Lamba said the startup was bootstrapped till last year’s pre-seed funding round.

Lamba told the publication that Mainstreet plans to deploy the incoming funding to hire senior management, expand its brick-and-mortar presence across the country and build the quality of its customer experience. Currently, it has two physical locations – one in Delhi and one in Mumbai.

“We’re playing the game of status. Sneakers are the first bit of the puzzle for us. We’re figuring out what’s next in the marketplace for status-driven commodities,” he was cited as saying, talking about the platform’s vision.

India’s startup ecosystem witnessed funding resurge in May, as startup funding crossed $1 Bn in the month. However, June has only seen Indian startups raise $680 Mn till June 24, per Inc42 data, as the funding looks set to plunge massively in the month.

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