Home Grown Apparel Brand D'Chica Secures INR 1.62Cr From Velocity.in
Since August 2020, premium apparel and fashion brand D'chica has raised 1.62 crores from Velocity.in. The largest revenue-based financier in India. Vani Chugh Kabra and Richa Kapila, sister-in-law duo, founded D'Chica in 2019 with a mission to transform the needs of teenage girls as they transition into womanhood. Their core products include fashionable and comfortable innerwear, as well as a fashion line of sportswear, loungewear, and footwear.
Since its inception only a few years ago, the D2C brand has reached incredible heights. The teens essentials & utility-based fashion startup is set to close the current fiscal year at 13 crores after closing the fiscal year 2021-22 with an impressive Rs 6.6 crore in revenue.
D'chica has also received numerous Mom's Choice and Business Growth Awards, including the prestigious TimeSheUnltd Award, for their innovative designs and exceptional business growth. The brand has a strong presence on e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Myntra, Ajio, Firstcry, Jabong, Zivame, and others, and exports its innerwear range to the United States, United Kingdom, and Germany. In January, the brand launched its offline operations in Delhi NCR and Uttar Pradesh.
According to the founders, D'chica strives to strike the perfect balance between what teenagers love and relate to and what their mothers would be willing to let them swipe their cards for.
“The teen demographic in India has long been disregarded by traditional apparel brands. However, we spotted a white space to create high-quality utility products that also incorporated up-to-date fashion trends. Now we’ve seen even larger names like Jockey and Puma joining in the action,” said Vani, Co-founder, D’chica.
Richa Kapila, Co-founder, D'chica, said of her company's growth and recent Velocity funding, "Our products have been met with an astounding response, not just in metropolitan cities, but across tier-2 and tier-3 towns including Patna, Indore, Vizag, Visakhapatnam, and Shillong as well."
“We chose revenue-based financing to retain our company’s autonomy and keep control in our hands. We didn’t want to go the traditional VC route until we had achieved our targeted run rate, we raised our pre-series A only after we had a solid proof of concept with our ARR and vision. Velocity’s support has been monumental in boosting our operations and giving us the tools to reach greater heights. With this funding, we will ramp up our marketing and hiring efforts. We strongly believe this investment will take our business further than ever before!” Richa added.
Growing awareness among children about comfort and fashion fuels D'chica's growth story. According to estimates, India's kidswear industry is worth $16.62 billion and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.6% between 2022 and 2027. Furthermore, teenagers account for approximately 19% of India's total child population.
"We are thrilled to be partnering with D'chica," said Abhiroop Medhekar, CEO of Velocity, of the round of financing. India has roughly 19% of the world's adolescents, making it a largely untapped market. We have faith in the founders and their approach to catering to digital natives - from strategy to business development. We are excited about this exciting collaboration and look forward to supporting D'chica as they continue to soar!"
Velocity.in, based in Bengaluru, is India's largest revenue-based financier. The fintech company has a 78% repeat customer rate since it began operations in early 2020. Velocity's platform has already processed 1,000+ D2C investments, with Rs 3,300 crore in fundable revenues connected.