FableStreet Lifestyle Solutions Pvt. Ltd, which operates an eponymous portal to sell premium workwear for women, has raised Rs 21 crore ($2.9 million) in its Series A round of funding led by consumer-focused venture capital firm Fireside Ventures.
Several individual investors including Pradeep Parameswaran, president at Uber India and South Asia; Dilip Khandelwal, a managing director at Deutsche Bank; and Suhail Sameer, CEO of FMCG at RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, also invested in their personal capacity, FableStreet said in a press release.
The company will use the money to expand its operations, add product categories and hire senior professionals. It also plans to invest in artificial intelligence and machine learning to build a customer recommendation engine, strengthen product development and set up a tech-enabled efficient supply chain. Besides, FableStreet will adopt an omnichannel model and plans to enter offline retail with brand-owned stores in coming months.
“We have been impressed with strong brand followership and customer excitement for FableStreet. The brand has a sharp understanding of customer needs and has constantly evolved to provide quality and unique solutions to address them,” said Dipanjan Basu, partner at Fireside.
Delhi-based FableStreet was founded in 2016 by Ayushi Gudwani. It offers premium workwear for women under its own private label under categories such as tops, shirts, pants, skirts and belts in a price range of Rs 1,700 to Rs 3,500.
The company had raised its last funding round from a clutch of angel investors that include Fireside Ventures managing director Kanwaljit Singh more than two years ago.
“Since launch, we have seen massive product acceptance, globally, and our ‘My Style, Your Fit’ concept to offer bespoke fits has to be the real differentiator,” said Gudwani.
Gudwani is an electronics engineer and a management graduate from IIM Calcutta. She worked for seven years at consulting firm McKinsey before taking the entrepreneurial route.
Deals in the fashion segment
There have been several deals in the fashion startup segment in recent months from both investors and strategic players, as several groups look to stake a claim on the growing number of apparel- and brand-conscious consumers.
In August, billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd acquired a majority stake in Shopsense Retail Technologies Pvt. Ltd, which runs fashion portal Fynd, for Rs 295.25 crore.
In July, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd, a unit of Aditya Birla Group, agreed to acquire a 51% stake in Finesse International Design Pvt. Ltd, which owns bespoke apparel brand Shantanu & Nikhil brand, for Rs 60 crore.
Also in July, House of Masaba, the luxury fashion label launched by celebrated designer Masaba Gupta, raised around Rs 6.8 crore in an angel round of funding led by Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal.
