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L-Fast Brands Pvt Ltd that owns Weddingz.in, an online marketplace for wedding venues and vendors, has raised an undisclosed amount in its pre-Series A round of funding from consumer-focused venture capital firm Sixth Sense Ventures, reported ET.
The Mumbai-based startup will use the raised capital for technology development & automation and team expansion. “We are also looking at getting into newer categories like decor, honeymoon packages and enhance our customers experience by technology development like making virtual tours of venues on the website possible,” said Sandeep Lodha, founder & chief executive of Weddingz.in.
Founded in 2015 by Sandeep Lodha and Sourabh Ladha, Weddingz.in, helps consumers to check availability and shortlist venues by themselves or get assistance from Weddingz.in relationship managers. Besides, the portal also offers guaranteed best prices and destination weddings.
The startup has already tied up with over 150 designer labels such as Ritu Kumar and Neeta Lulla, as well as with jewellery brands like Gehna Jewellers and Tanishq.
Currently, Weddingz.in is present in 10 cities across the country, and plans to expand across the top 20 cities in India by the end of 2016; and the top 100 by the end of 2017. The company also claims to organise more than 150 weddings every month.
“The wedding industry in India is pegged at $40 Bn, with 10 Mn weddings taking place annually. The market is growing at 25% per year. However, it remains to be extremely fragmented with 100,000 vendors in top 20 cities. Weddingz.in aims to fill an obvious gap in the fragmented weddings and events industry – that of finding the right vendor at the right price,” said Lodha.
Prior to this, the startup raised over $1 Mn (around INR 6.7 Cr) in angel funding from a group of investors including Google India’s MD Rajan Anandan. The other investors include filmmakers Zoya Akhtar, Reema Kagati and Ruchi Narain, Indian designer Ritu Kumar’s son Amrish Kumar, and Ambit Private Wealth CEO Hrishikesh Parandekar.
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