Social commerce startup VioletStreet.com raises $315K in angel funding

Hyderabad-based Thinkbits Internet Technologies Pvt Ltd, the company behind social commerce startup VioletStreet.com, has raised $315,000 (about Rs 2 crore) in angel funding from former Bank of America SVP Venkat Vallabhaneni, and angel investor Srinivasa Rao Paturi. The funds will be used for marketing and tying-up with vendors.

As part of the deal, Vallabhaneni has joined the board of the company. Abhibus founder Sudhakar Reddy, who facilitated this round, will also join VioletStreet's board.

Last year, the startup had received Rs 10 lakh (over $16,000) in funding at a 'SmashUp' event organised by TiE, Hyderabad.

The startup was founded in November 2013 by computer science engineer Ankur Gupta and Nayan Kumar, a chemical engineer. While Gupta was previously working at Microsoft, Kumar had earlier founded a software services company.

VioletStreet allows its users to engage with their friends as well as the fashion community before making a purchase. It also allows its users to mix and match and create custom looks by putting together fashion products from various sites. The founders claim that more than 3,000 looks are being created by users on the site every month.

In its segment, VioletStreet competes with Tiger Global-backed Limeroad.com that had earlier raised $15 million in its Series B round of funding. Another player in this space is Seedfund-backed Voonik.com, a platform that uses inputs such a body shape, skin tone, height and personal style and tastes to help customers choose the best possible product for them.