Freakins, a home-grown denim fashion brand for Gen Z women, announced that it has raised $4M in a seed round, led by Matrix Partners India and Blume Ventures.
The D2C brand will employ the funds to expand its omnichannel presence, strengthen operations and amplify salience amongst its consumers, a statement said.
The company also raised capital from over 30 angel investors like Revant Bhate (Mosaic Wellness), Navin Agarwal (Sonal Apparels), Chakradhar Gade (Country Delight), Utkrishta Kumar (Meesho), Asish Mohapatra (OfBusiness) and prominent influencers like Aayush Wadhwa, Tarini Shah and Agastya Shah.
Freakins was established with the mission of providing the finest denim wear for women in India. The brand boasts of an extensive line-up of over 1500+ styles, featuring trendy fits, washes and rips that cater to diverse body types, preferences, and occasions. The brand is led by a young team who understands the Gen Z pulse and is sold through both D2C channels and marketplaces.
The company was founded by Puneet Sehgal and Shaan Shah, with partner Sachin Shah. Puneet brings with him extensive experience in business leadership and supply chain management from his previous positions at Hopscotch and Amazon, to name a few. This, combined with Shaan’s marketing prowess and consumer insights, has enabled them to create a brand that resonates with contemporary consumers, according to the statement.
The funds will be strategically deployed to bolster the brand’s supply chain capabilities by forging partnerships with factories specializing in denim, knits, and woven fabrics. It aims to expand its presence in other geographies, invest in quality talent and launch new SKUs. With a strong focus on partnerships with creators, it also plans to launch exclusive collections designed to cater to the likes of our consumers.
Puneet Sehgal, Founder & CEO, Freakins shared, “Freakins was launched with the objective of offering denimwear for different body types. Our brand’s unique approach has resonated strongly with the youth nationwide. The funding will facilitate our expansion into new categories, further enhance our manufacturing capabilities and extend our distribution footprint. By owning the end-to-end process, from storefront to design and factories, we maintain exceptional quality control and achieve faster turnaround times, enabling us to adapt to the changing consumer preferences.”
On the fundraise, Rajat Agarwal, MD, Matrix Partners India, said, “At Matrix Partners India, we believe that our country will see the emergence of several large consumer businesses over the next decade. As our GDP per capita goes from $2,500 to $5,000, a large proportion of incremental income will go towards discretionary consumption. Apparels are a key part of this discretionary basket and we believe Freakins is uniquely positioned to capture the Gen Z fast fashion opportunity. They have innovated on supply chain, product design as well as on brand building through their unique influencer-led strategy. We are excited to partner with Puneet, Shaan and the Freakins team as they look to build the next fashion behemoth from India.”
Apurva Dixit, AVP Investments, Blume Ventures, shared, “Freakins is Blume’s largest bet in consumer brands in recent times. At Blume, we believe in investing in brands demonstrating sustainable and profitable growth, targeting large markets. Apparel is an enormous albeit highly competitive category. We believe that in Puneet and Shaan, we have both strong operational DNA and an influential design sense. Freakins has the potential to be the new household name in fashion.”
Dexter Capital Advisors were the exclusive advisors in this round of funding.
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