Companies
Bewakoof's desperate bid to raise capital and stay afloat
Summary
The Mumbai-based company, which sells apparel, footwear and beauty products, is looking to offload majority stake
MUMBAI/NEW DELHI : Bewakoof Brands Pvt. Ltd is in talks with Amazon Fashion, Flipkart’s online fashion marketplace Myntra and US private equity firm Advent International-backed Dixcy Textiles, among potential investors, to sell majority stake, said four people with direct knowledge of the development, in a desperate bid by the youth-focused direct-to-consumer (D2C) firm to raise capital and stay afloat.
The deal is likely to value the Mumbai-based company at ₹1,000-1,100 crore, the people said, requesting anonymity. They didn’t disclose the size of the stake that could be purchased by the new investors.
Founders hold 30% in Bewakoof while investors such as InvestCorp, IvyCap and Spring Marketing Capital have a controlling 70% stake.
“The company is alternately also exploring a primary fundraise of $30 million ( ₹239 crore) with a clutch of private equity investors to tide over the immediate capital requirement," said one of the people cited above. This marks a sharp decline from the $40-50 million Bewakoof had planned to raise at the start of this year.
The firm’s fundraising ambitions have been hit by the ongoing ‘funding winter’ in the startup ecosystem. Startups are facing a severe squeeze in liquidity, as investors turn averse to loosening their purse strings for those lacking a clear path to profitability. “Some of the existing investors are looking to cash out of the company, having stayed on board for more than five years, and the founders are also likely to sell their stake if the price is right," the second person said. Bewakoof had in August 2021 raised ₹60 crore from InvestCorp, IvyCap and Spring Marketing.
Founded in 2012 by Prabhkiran Singh and Siddharth Munot, Bewakoof sells apparel and footwear, activewear and innerwear and has also launched a beauty products brand, Cosmos. It also had plans to enter the home décor segment this financial year.
Bewakoof retails its products on its own platform as well as on online marketplaces such as Amazon, Myntra, Flipkart, Ajio, Tata Cliq, Nykaa Fashion and Trell. It claims to sell around 600,000 products of its namesake brand every month.
Bewakoof, which has so far raised $23 million from investors, clocked ₹300 crore in sales in the year to March 2021. It also added a marketplace business called Bazaar through which it hosts around 150 other D2C brands on its platform. The platform retails brands such as Chumbak, Mad Over Print, Clovia, Noise, boAt, Campus Sutra and Ustraa on its marketplace.
