D2C fashion brand Zouk set to raise $10 Mn led by Aavishkaar Capital

Direct-to-commerce (D2C) fashion brand Zouk is in late-stage talks to raise a new round, sources aware of the development told Entrackr. The new round is coming after more than 18 months for the Mumbai-based startup, which claims to make cruelty-free products.

"Aavishkaar Capital has issued a term sheet and has completed due diligence. The impact fund, along with existing backer Stellaris Venture, will invest over $10 million," said one of the sources, requesting anonymity as discussions are private.

Aavishkaar Capital has invested in several startups including AgroStar, Altum Credo, Ergos, GoDesi, Milk Mantra and Newtrace.

Launched in 2015 by Disha Singh and Pradeep Krishnakumar, Zouk majorly deals in laptop, tote handbags, sling bags and chain wallets. As per the company, its products are handmade by its in-house artisans, and are 100% vegan leather sourced and manufactured in India.

In March 2023, Zouk raised $3 million led by Stellaris Venture. Angel investors such as Atomberg founder Manoj Meena and founders of Sugar Cosmetics Vineeta Singh and Kaushik Mukherjee also participated in the round. It has raised more than $4.5 million to date including $1.5 million pre Series A round led by Stellaris and an undisclosed seed funding led by Titan Capital in July and January 2021, respectively.

Sources added that Zouk will be valued in the range $50 million (Rs 400 crore. As per startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, Zouk was valued at around $7 million during the last financing round.

Queries sent to Zouk and Aavishkaar on August 6 didn’t elicit any response.

For the fiscal year ended in March 2023, Zouk registered Rs 47.41 crore revenue against Rs 21.82 crore in FY22. The company’s losses surged to Rs 10.55 crore from Rs 77 lakh during the period. It is yet to file FY24 numbers.

As of the last funding, Zouk’s founders Singh and Krishnakuma had 31% stake each in the company while Stellaris was the largest external shareholder with 19.63% stake. Check TheKredible for more details.