Gurugram-based B2B online marketplace Fashinza that solves supply chain issues for apparel manufacturers and sellers said Wednesday it has raised USD 2.6 million in seed round led by Accel Partners and Elevation Capital (previously known as SAIF Partners).
The funding round also saw participation from some marquee angel investors such as co-founders of Snapdeal, Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, and co-founder of Indifi, Alok Mittal.
The company said it will utilize the funds to digitize the supply chain and sourcing of raw materials in the apparel industry.
Fashinza was founded in 2020 by two alumni of India’s premier technology institute IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) Delhi, Pawan Gupta and Abhishek Sharma. The company connects fashion brands with experienced manufacturers to solve supply chain issues by digitizing all the processes involved in making clothes, right from the designing process to product delivery.
“The global apparel supply chain needs technology-driven intervention for it to become efficient and fair. It needs to be more agile and it should be able to respond to changes much more quickly than it does at present,” said Pawan Gupta, CEO & co-founder, Fashinza. According to Gupta, the company during the pandemic onboarded suppliers and manufacturers of PPE (personal protective equipment) kits to ensure there’s a steady supply chain maintained across the country.
Fashinza said it’s expanding the network of manufacturers globally and is working with leading brands across 10 countries.
“We’re proud to be partners with Fashinza as they represent the ambition of next-gen Indian founders going after large global opportunities. The time is right for Fashinza as they reinvent the USD 500 billion global fashion supply chain for the e-commerce era. Pawan and Abhishek are exceptional operators who put team and customer success first and have instilled the right cultural DNA in Fashinza very early on,” said Pratik Agarwal, vice president, Accel Partners.
The European Union, United States, and China are the three largest markets for the apparel industry while the Asia-Pacific region has the highest growth rate, the company said in a statement. As of January 2021, the company claims to have over 400 ethical partner factories across India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka, that have emerged as the leading suppliers in the industry. Fashinza counts brands like Noon.com, FirstCry, The Souled Store, and Bewakoof.com among their customers.