Online fashion retailer Bewakoof banks $11.2m in Investcorp-led round

Online direct-to-consumer fashion company Bewakoof has raised US$11.2 million in its latest round of funding from Bahrain-based alternative investment firm Investcorp.

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Founded in 2012, Bewakoof initially focused on apparel and mobile phone covers before branching out into more categories such as hoodies, sweaters, joggers, footwear, and notebooks. The India-based retailer carries in-house capabilities in design, manufacturing, technology, data science, and marketing, according to a statement.

It plans to use the new funds to strengthen its platform and leverage on machine learning to improve customer experience. It also looks to invest in back-end tech and expand its offerings.

“Having grown significantly in the last couple of years, we will continue investing in improving the customer experience through technological innovation and focusing on talent acquisition,” said Bewakoof co-founder and director Prabhkiran Singh.

Currently, the company said it delivers sales of more than 650,000 products per month, with a customer base of over 4 million.

According to a report, Investcorp provided nearly 90% of the funding in the latest round, landing a 14% stake in Bewakoof and a seat on its board.

“This is the first institutional funding round in the company. The firm has, so far, worked with very little capital and has focused on its bottomline as well as its topline. Therefore, it has been profitable for the last four years and is one of the few internet startups in the country to have done that,” Gaurav Sharma, co-head of private equity at Investcorp India, told Livemint.