D2C fashion brand Bewakoof recently raised Rs 60 crore in a fundraise round led by InvestCorp, but Founder and CEO Prabhkiran Singh believes the fundraise is “just the beginning of the work that is ahead and not an end goal”.
Bewakoof has ambitious targets for the future and the recent fundraise will take the company “one step closer to its target”.
Prabhkiran says the funds will be used to improve Bewakoof’s product and innovate on design and quality. “We want to keep doing what Bewakoof is good at, enabling self-expression in each and every lifestyle product.”
The D2C brand, which was founded in 2012, will also focus on branding and plans to go on television and reveal its brand story. “Bewakoof has always been a purposeful brand and we want to bring that out through our campaigns,” the founder says.
Bewakoof Founder and CEO Prabkiran Singh
Bewakoof will focus on technology, especially gamification, and “become pioneers in video commerce while investing in content”.
Prabhkiran says the brand will also focus on product expansion. Bewaqoof started as a T-shirt brand and today 30 percent of the sales come from that category. The casual wear brand also diversified into the ethnic category, which is growing by the day.
In 2021, the startup launched a beauty segment, Cosmos Beauty, which is showing promising results.
But the founder isn’t resting content. Next up are categories like activewear and innerwear, to be followed by the “home category in the next one to two years”.
“We see ourselves as the self-expression-enablers. To us, every lifestyle category is a canvas where we can add expression and make those products unique,” he says.
Prabhkiran shares that a part of the manufacturing is done in-house while some is outsourced. Amid the pandemic, the supply chains had to be more diversified – this is the reason for the mixed strategy.
“There is a lot of demand after the second wave. If the third wave does not hit us, there is a possibility of a blockbuster festival season.”
Bewakoof aims to reach a revenue figure of Rs 2,000 crore within a time frame of four years. Presently 90 percent of the sales are happening on their own platform, and the brand is working to improve distribution channels.
“We just got listed on Flipkart, Amazon, and Myntra and are seeing really interesting early numbers,” Prabhkiran says.