Online women’s apparel brand Enakshi raises seed funding

Ahmedabad-based Nimana Fashions Pvt. Ltd, which runs online womenswear brand Enakshi, has raised Rs 80 lakh (about $114,000) in seed funding from two undisclosed Gujarat-based investors, a company statement said.

The company will use the capital to increase its brand’s visibility, improve technology, hire more designers and expand its business to brick-and-mortar stores, the statement added.

“With decades of experience in the women’s apparel industry through our parent brand Deepkala in Ahmedabad, we noticed that an increasing number of women has now started seeking novelty in every buy and aspires to create a wardrobe that showcases their own individuality. This catapulted the launch of brand Enakshi,”said Maharsh Shah, co-founder of the venture, in the statement.

The company is also in talks with a clutch of other investors to raise $1 million over the next two years to build on its distribution network, the statement said.

Launched in March 2018, Enakshi was conceptualised and created by Shah, his father Nilay Shah and Namya Patel. Besides selling the brand online, the company also retails it offline through the Deepkala Silk Heritage stores in Ahmedabad, which is owned by Nilay.

Patel holds a bachelor’s degree in media and communications and a specialisation in film from Goldsmiths, University of London. Maharsh is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in marketing.

Enakshi is primarily aimed at women in the age group of 18-48 years.

Deals in the space

A number of companies in the broader fashion e-commerce space have raised funding in the past few months.

Early this month, TechCircle reported that Delhi-based Ad Victoriam Ventures Pvt. Ltd, which operates fashion e-tailing platform for women StalkBuyLove, is raising around Rs 20.42 crore ($2.96 million) in a fresh round of funding from a clutch of new and existing investors.

In June, womenswear e-tailer eShakti had raised Rs 75 crore ($10.1 million) in fresh funding from private equity firm Paragon Partners.

In April, Jadevalue Fintech, the investment arm of Chinese microfinance company CashBUS, led the ongoing pre-Series A funding round into Mumbai-based online fashion resale marketplace CoutLoot.

In March, online fashion marketplace Fynd had closed its Series C round of funding led by tech giant Google.

TCNS Clothing Co. Ltd, which owns the W brand of womenswear, had listed itself on stock markets in July, which saw its US-based private equity investor TA Associates make a partial exit. The company had made a weak debut on its first day of trading on the Bombay Stock Exchange as compared to its IPO.