MUMBAI: Fashion and You, an online private sales website of luxury brands and design apparel, has raised $8 million from private equity firm Sequoia Capital.
The amount will be used to grow the company‘s product offering, strengthen its enterprise technology, expand its distribution capacity and fund future growth initiatives.
Sequoia Capital India managing director Shailendra Singh said, "We are delighted to partner with the founders and management of Fashion and You, who have quickly built Fashion and you into the leading online retailer of premium fashion brands in India with over half a million members who are part of the private shopping club. We are confident that the company will strengthen its position as a frontrunner and continue to grow rapidly even as this space witnesses rapid growth."
In India, Sequoia has invested in companies such as Café Coffee Day, Edelweiss, Firstsource, Idea Cellular, Ind-Barath Power, Just Dial, Shaadi.com and SKS Microfinance.
Fashion and You Founder and Chairman Harish Bahl said, "Fashion and You was the third to start in its category & is now a clear market leader in Online Fashion Retail in India. The core strength of the organization has been the team and the partners that we have. We are overwhelmed by the response that we have got from our consumers and how our teams and partners have made this otherwise very complex to scale model, work so efficiently. With a premium partner like Sequoia now on board with us, we are even more confident of achieving our initial goal of being the sales platform for most high fashion brands in India contributing to at least 10% of their sales by end 2011."
Fashion and You was founded in the beginning of this year and is backed by Group Deal Global AG. Fashion and You is headquartered at Gurgaon, India and has its order processing center and warehouse in Delhi, India.
Fashion and You Pearl co-founder and CEO Uppal said, "Fashion and You offers its consumers and clients a pan-India marketing, retail and distribution platform for fashion and lifestyle brands. We believe we are creating a shopping revolution in India and the investment from Sequoia Capital gives us the tremendous impetus that we require right now to leap into a growth spiral. We have committed to deepening our partnership with brands in delivering a world-class direct to consumer marketing and distribution platform, helping brands build a pan national footprint."
