B2B start-up Fashinza raises $20 million series A funding co-led by Accel Partners and Elevation Capital

Fashinza, a global B2B manufacturing marketplace, on Monday, August 2, 2021, announced that they have raised $20 million in a mix of equity and debt as part of Series-A Funding. The round was co-led by marquee existing investors Accel Partners and Elevation Capital along with Abu Dhabi's DisruptAD, Stride Ventures, Alteria Capital, and Tradecred.

The round also saw the participation of Anand S Ahuja (MD, Shahi Exports & Founder, Bhaane) and actress Sonam Kapoor Ahuja, both of whom are vocal supporters of sustainable fashion. The funds will be utilized to invest in supply-chain technology and expand the company's presence and manufacturers' base globally, especially in the US and the Middle East. Previously, in 2020, Fashinza had raised $2.6 million from Accel and Elevation as a part of its seed round.

Team Fashinza is on a mission to create sustainable and futuristic supply chains for fashion brands while improving the lives of workers. They connect family-run small/mid-sized audited factories to the cloud with their mobile-based production management and visibility software.

In May 2021, the company expanded its operations to New York intending to reinvent the $800 bn global fashion manufacturing for the e-commerce era, which is more agile, fast, transparent, and sustainable. Their platform provides end-to-end online ordering for brands, complete production tracking from the factory floor, low MOQs, and fast but ethical production. For an industry addicted to low cost and overproduction, this could be a way to reduce wastage and its impact on the environment. In addition, they are solving critical problems of working capital and payment trust with embedded financing solutions like Net 60 payment terms.

They are currently present in 10 countries and have partnered with brands from the US, Canada, UK, Middle East, and India. At present, they're associated with 150+ leading brands including Forever 21, Hummel, Centrix Brands, and Amaro. Post pandemic, brands have been scrambling to diversify their supply chains, find new suppliers, and reduce their dependence on a single source. Multiple brands have used Fashinza to diversify their supply chains across countries like China, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and India.

Commenting on the fresh funding, Pawan Gupta, CEO & Co-Founder, Fashinza, said, "Fashinza has grown over 20x in the last 12 months. Covid has ceased travel and complicated the global apparel supply chain. Our AI-led technology platform automates everything from finding the right supplier to managing production across stakeholders. We started Fashinza because we wanted to help small and medium ethical factories employing millions of workers, connect with global demand and eliminate environmentally unsustainable practices of this industry like overproduction. By 2030, we want to build an environmentally net positive supply chain at a scale that doesn't even cost extra."

Abhishek Sharma, COO, and Co-Founder, Fashinza, added, "Apart from the core offerings, we are also solving credit for fashion brands and suppliers in cross-border transactions through our Buy Now Pay Later program where we offer Net 30/Net 60 payment terms for buyers. We solve working capital challenges for suppliers through an embedded fintech ecosystem that operates on our core supply chain technology and data. This allows the supply chain to operate ethically and ensure workers get paid fairly and timely."

In his comments, Pratik Agarwal, Principal, Accel Partners, said, "At Accel, we're delighted to deepen our commitment and relationship with the Fashinza team. We're inspired by their electric execution against their vision to help fashion brands adapt to the e-commerce era with Fashinza's agile manufacturing capabilities. We also admire Abhishek's and Pawan's priority to build a strong leadership team very early on. The early success Fashinza has achieved serving global brands validates the massive opportunity they're going after. We're confident Fashinzacan serve as a role model for more Indian startups building for the world from the get-go. We're grateful for this partnership and super excited for the future!"

According to Akarsh Shrivastava, Vice President, Elevation Capital, "COVID-19 has further underscored the need for agility and responsiveness for brands. Over the past year, Fashinza has been able to design and deliver an offering that addresses multiple issues in the supply chain, thereby alleviating this need for their brand customers and supplier base. Growth and customer satisfaction have only strengthened our belief in the opportunity. It has been a pleasure and privilege to work with Pawan, Abhishek and the rockstar Fashinza team as they disrupt this $600 bn opportunity. Super thrilled to deepen our commitment and relationship with Fashinza."

Founded in 2020 by Abhishek Sharma and Pawan Gupta, Fashinza is a global B2B manufacturing marketplace with a mission to create sustainable and futuristic supply chains for fashion brands while improving the lives of millions of workers. The start-up provides absolute transparency in production through regular updates for brands on their AI-based platform. They handle everything from design to delivery for their partner brands while providing the lowest MOQs in the industry and fast turnarounds. As of January 2021, they have 400 plus ethical partner factories across India, Bangladesh, China, and Sri Lanka. Fashinza works with brands across 10 countries like Forever21, Noon.com, Centrix Brands, Amaro, Clovia, and Bewakoof.com.

DisruptAD is ADQ's venture capital platform. Its activities include investments in start-ups and venture capital funds, as well as the creation of new incubators and accelerators to support Abu Dhabi's evolution as a global start-up destination and accelerate the development of its innovation ecosystem. DisruptAD invests across the UAE as well as other global markets including the Middle East and North Africa region, India, China, South East Asia, and the United States. The platform aims to support and nurture over 1,000 start-ups by 2025.