Mumbai: Fluid Ventures, the Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) focused venture capital fund, has announced its debut investment in Fabriclore from its INR 80 Crore fund.
Fabriclore is a Jaipur-based leading digital retailer of fabrics that offers one of the widest ranges of fabrics, producing one of the largest and versatile fabric catalogs on a digital platform.
With pandemic hitting the world last year, consumer behavior has changed drastically and it is likely to stay and with the agility of digital platforms, quality and diversity of products and quick dispatch and delivery is engaging consumers in digital shopping more than visits to physical stores, both far and near. Fluid Ventures had envisaged the need for D2C platforms much earlier. So with the aim to promote the startup ecosystem in India, the fund announced its first close this year in May’2021 and is going to invest in 15 Direct to consumer startups from its fund.
“We invest in startups that have successfully executed their capability and have achieved customer validation in the addressed market. In Fabriclore we found a startup which has defined competitive advantage,” says Amit Singal, General Partner, Fluid Ventures. “We not only provide funds but also provide hands-on support to the start-ups in achieving business milestones,” he adds.
Singal added the fund will be deploying the entire corpus of INR 80 Crore in Direct to Consumer Indian products and brands over the next three years, with a ticket size of INR 2 ~4 Crore per deal in Pre-Series A and Series A rounds.
Fluid Ventures is leading the current round with USD 2,40,000 in Fabriclore that is being deployed primarily for customer acquisition and international expansion. Fabriclore from its 10,000+ catalog offers customization of garments, accessories, and home furnishing over a digital platform along with maintaining the quality of the fabrics. The company has acknowledged an Annual Revenue Requirement (AAR) of INR 11.25 crore for the year 2021-22.
Dhianu Das, General Partner, Fluid Ventures, says: “While investment in D2C companies seemed risky to many investors because of the pandemic situation, we at Fluid Ventures felt it was necessary to boost up the morale of our home-grown D2C start-ups. D2C is the way ahead and the entrepreneurs need our encouragement and support. We will continue to provide it.”
