FableStreet raises ₹21 crore in Series A led by Fireside Ventures

FableStreet, a premium work wear brand for women, has raised ₹21 crore in Series A led by Fireside Ventures.

Industry honchos, including Pradeep Parameswaran, President for Uber India and South Asia; Dilip Khandelwal, MD and head of Technology of Deutsche Bank and Suhail Sameer, CEO at RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group (FMCG), have also participated in this round and invested in their personal capacities.

The newly-raised funds will be utilised for market expansion, including offline presence, adding product categories and hiring senior professionals. As a tech-enabled brand, FableStreet also plans to invest in AI and machine learning to build a customer recommendation engine, strengthen product development and set up a tech-enabled efficient supply chain.

Founded in 2016, FableStreet that provides tailored-fit western professional wear for women along with minimal jewellery and extra comfortable footwear is one of the first Indian brands to tap the growing white space of ‘women’s formal wear with a unique business model and competes with the likes of Marks & Spencer, Massimo Dutti, Zara amongst others, in the quality work wear category.

“We are building a one-stop destination for all lifestyle needs of professional women. Since launch, we have seen massive product acceptance, globally, and our ‘My Style, Your Fit’ concept to offer bespoke fits has to be the real differentiator. We are excited to partner with Fireside in this journey to scale FableStreet” said Ayushi Gudwani, Founder and CEO, FableStreet.

She says the brand is already ahead of the curve in this space with its data-backed proprietary tailored fit algorithm — a sizing algorithm that only requires the customer to provide three body measurements online to extrapolate the remaining measurements to 95 per cent accuracy and build a custom-fit garment. The three-year-old brand has registered a growth of 50 per cent Q-o-Q and generates half of its revenues from repeat customers.

Dipanjan Basu, Partner and CFO at Fireside Ventures, who is also joining FableStreet as on of the Board members said “We have been impressed with the strong brand followership and customer excitement for FableStreet. We, at Fireside, believe that personalization and technology-driven business models will be the new frontrunners in the consumer segment and are pleased to support Ayushi and her vision to provide quality and premium work wear to women.”

FableStreet operates in a $1.2 plus billion work wear industry which is still a white space and undergoing fundamental evolution with increasing the number of women entering the workforce and, with consumers investing in quality clothing. In 2017, FableStreet had raised an undisclosed sum in seed funding from a clutch of angel investors including Fashion Veteran, Harmeet Bajaj, Unilever Vice-President Pameela Pattabiraman, Fusiontech Ventures and other investors in the consumer, retail and technology sectors.