Exclusive: D2C fashion brand Bewakoof bags Rs 30 Cr from IvyCap Ventures

Direct to consumer or D2C fashion brand Bewakoof has raised funds from IvyCap Ventures. The fresh proceeds would help the company streamline its operations, which was severely hit for the first five months of the pandemic.

Bewakoof has allotted 4,115  Series A2 preference shares and 100 equity shares at an issue price of Rs 71,176 per share to raise Rs 30 crore from IvyCap, regulatory filings show. The fresh infusion has come 10 months after their previous fundraise. 

Last year, Bewakoof had raised Rs 8 crore in a bridge round from Pranak Consultants Pratithi Investment and Indigoedge Management. In October 2019, Investcorp had picked up a 14% stake for Rs 80 crore in the eight-year-old company.

Founded in April 2012 by Prabhkiran Singh and Siddharth Munot, Bewakoof sells trendy apparel and accessories. A huge chunk of Bewakoof’s customer base includes millennials across tier I, II and III cities.

In an interview to BusinessLine, Singh said that the company’s revenue will suffer to the tune of 30-33% in FY21 because of the pandemic. According to Fintrackr, Bewakoof had registered a 27% growth in its revenue from operations to Rs 208.33 crore in FY20 from Rs 164.22 crore in FY19. 

Unlike FY19, in which Bewakoof posted a profit of Rs 29.5 lakh, the company recorded a loss of Rs 28.26 crore in FY20. Its EBITDA margins also slipped from 3.56% in FY19 to -9.5% in FY20. According to Singh, the company is eyeing a turnover of close to Rs 140-150 crore in FY21.

Over the past couple of years, several D2C brands in beauty, audio-hardware and mattress have gained quick grounds in India. Mamaearth and Sugar Cosmetics had crossed Rs 100 crore revenue mark in FY20 whereas boAt’s earnings from sales jumped three-fold to Rs 700.44 crore. 

With Rs 48.5 crore in profit, boAt was also one of the few growth-stage startups in India to show profitability in FY20. According to Fintrackr, Sequoia-backed D2C mattress brand WakeFit’s revenue also surged 2.5X to Rs 197 crore in FY20. It also churned profit worth Rs 10 crore in the year ending March 2020.

Bewakoof is one of the rare startups to create a D2C brand to the tune of Rs 200 crore in the fashion space. While we may see the emergence of more pure-play D2C brands in fashion this year or in near future, the likes of Myntra have been able to scale its private labels such as Roadster, HRX and All About You to a business of over Rs 400 crore.