India’s women-only fashion startup raises 8.5 million dollars

High Street Essentials Pvt. Ltd., an Indian online fashion brand for women that runs FabAlley and Indya, has announced it has recently raised circa 8.5 million dollars (Rs 60 crore) in a fresh funding round from SAIF Partners.

The round also includes a partial secondary share sale by Indian Angel Network, Shivani Poddar, co-founder of FabAlley, told ‘BloombergQuint’ in an interview.

The Delhi NCR-based firm aims to deploy the funds towards focusing on product expansion, and also brand-building initiatives. “We also want to leverage technology in a way where we can create omnichannel experiences,” Poddar said, adding that they aim to increase their offline presence from 15 exclusive outlets and 120 shop-in-shops to about 50 stores and 300 shop-in-shops in the next 18 months. “We will also invest in new categories such as Athleisure and our plus size brand, Curve.”

Founded in June 2012, its first brand FabAlley is a women-only western wear label and identifies global fashion trends and converts them into affordable apparel, jewellery, accessories, shoes and bags. It launched Indya, an ethnic-fusion, offline-first brand in 2016, and is sold in about 15 exclusive brand outlets.

High Street Essentials said it turned profitable in FY18.