Shrey Luthra, Co-Founder
Harshit Vij, Co-Founder & CEO
This method of adapting to a different culture is introduced by Harshit and Shrey Luthra. Harshit Vij is ExFortis Healthcare with over 10 years of experience and working in projects directly under the guidance of Vice Chairman, CEO, and CIO while Shrey is a graduate in finance from the University of Glasgow and a textile enthusiast and loves adding technology to fabrics.
Here is an exclusive interaction with co-founders Harshit and Shrey sharing their story from being best friends to business partners with the team of CEO Insights.
'Take us through your educational and professional background. Share with us about the inception story of FREECULTR, what inspired you to get into the e-Commerce business?
I (Harshit Vij) completed my Master's in business administration from Delhi whereas Shrey comes from a finance background with a Master’s Degree in Finance from the University of Glasgow, Scotland. We both have done our schooling in Delhi as well. Once while casually hanging out, we came across an incident where a young guy was struggling with adjusting his underwear in public. Since we had experience in technical textiles as well as healthcare respectively for more than 10 years, that moment made us realize that men don’t have access to premium, skin friendly innerwear and that the industry lacks innovation in this particular category. The whole idea and the concept inspired both of us to foray into this industry, which required
some research and introduction of new technology to solve the problem.
What are the challenges faced by the e-Commerce industry? How do you strategize to make your company effectively compete in this scenario?
One of the major challenges that the e-Commerce industry is facing is the connect and the trust factor, especially in India. The lack of touch and feel leads to a lack of trust with new D2C brands. This is a major challenge we have seen while building an e-Commerce business.
Shrey: There are lot of challenges like brand name, finalizing several features of the product, and others, as the market is dependent on visual looks. By providing the right content,the right communication, and the right marketing we can overcome this challenge.
Currently, we are exclusively available on online platforms. However, we are not allergic to offline. When the time is right, we will be available offline as well. we do not use any harmful chemicals or processes, yet reach international standards as we manage our design, branding, and innovation carefully and with positive intent. Our products are sustainable and skin-friendly which helps us compete with established brands in the e-Commerce industry.
Which are the milestones that bestowed your utmost satisfaction both as an individual and as a CEO? What are the latest trends coming up in the market?
The achievement of establishing the FREECULTR brand is something to be acknowledged as we are a digital-first, direct-to-consumer brand. One of the milestones that we are very proud of is when the proportion of business from our webstore exceeded the sales on other channel partners like Amazon, Myntra, and Flipkart, and this is one of the milestones that we cherish.
Shrey: The growing adoption of new, homegrown brands among the customers today has proven crucial to our journey. The young customer today is rapidly moving towards a more new-age brand. For example, the younger men do not want to wear what their fathers used to wear, a fact that has played to our benefit. Our vision is to stay ahead of the curve, with the people that are the millennials and the Gen Z's.
What are the challenges faced by the e-Commerce industry? How do you strategize to make your company effectively compete in this scenario?
One of the major challenges that the e-Commerce industry is facing is the connect and the trust factor, especially in India. The lack of touch and feel leads to a lack of trust with new D2C brands. This is a major challenge we have seen while building an e-Commerce business.
Shrey: There are lot of challenges like brand name, finalizing several features of the product, and others, as the market is dependent on visual looks. By providing the right content,the right communication, and the right marketing we can overcome this challenge.
More than just a piece of apparel, our everyday staples are a way of life. These are thoughtful and amazing products that make life easier and more enjoyable!
Currently, we are exclusively available on online platforms. However, we are not allergic to offline. When the time is right, we will be available offline as well. we do not use any harmful chemicals or processes, yet reach international standards as we manage our design, branding, and innovation carefully and with positive intent. Our products are sustainable and skin-friendly which helps us compete with established brands in the e-Commerce industry.
Which are the milestones that bestowed your utmost satisfaction both as an individual and as a CEO? What are the latest trends coming up in the market?
The achievement of establishing the FREECULTR brand is something to be acknowledged as we are a digital-first, direct-to-consumer brand. One of the milestones that we are very proud of is when the proportion of business from our webstore exceeded the sales on other channel partners like Amazon, Myntra, and Flipkart, and this is one of the milestones that we cherish.
Shrey: The growing adoption of new, homegrown brands among the customers today has proven crucial to our journey. The young customer today is rapidly moving towards a more new-age brand. For example, the younger men do not want to wear what their fathers used to wear, a fact that has played to our benefit. Our vision is to stay ahead of the curve, with the people that are the millennials and the Gen Z's.
When we talk about the company's culture, how was the company nurtured itself since its inception?
We have a great open culture in the office, and everyone is focused on what they need to do and deliver. It doesn't matter where they choose to do their work from as long as the idea is to achieve the goal. Every team member is aligned to the vision that our brand carries.
We launched our D2C webstore on the 15th of February 2020. Before we knew it, it was time for our first month review. This was also the time when the lockdown was imposed. Although we were shut during the initial few days, we continued to work post the first few days to meet the growing online demand. We hit 100 orders a day during the lockdown, which gave us decent growth quarter to quarter.
Shrey: We have been using different blends which are loved by the customers, we have a decent repeat percentage, and that's how we are scaling and looking at things going forward as well.
What kind of advice or suggestion would you both like to give to the young entrepreneurs who are coming into the same domain of business?
We have been learning through this process as well. We are fortunate to have some notable mentors on our board whose advice through the year has been deeply valuable to us in our journey as entrepreneurs. One of the things to know in the e-Commerce business is that you have to run fast. As startup founders, there are days you will face difficult challenges. Some mistakes are bound to happen, resolve them calmly. I (Harshith Vij) think you need to be patient enough and keep on trying.
Shrey: It is important to make some losses. But leave them in the initial stage because when you make losses, you learn something out of it. The faster as you learn, the quicker you cut down on your losses.
Shrey Luthra, Co-Founder,Freecultr
A strategic thinker and business developer who is extremely wellversed in identifying market gaps, consumer inclination and product development integrated with innovation, Shrey is skilled in Product, Marketing, Affiliate, Targeting and Content, and believes that data and technology decisions earn maximum returns.
Harshit Vij, Co-Founder & CEO, Freecultr
After working in various projects in the fields of Business Operations, Master Data Management, Nursing standardization, Pricing and analytics, Operations & ERP implementation for 10+ years, Harshit is creating his way of owning a startup for betterment of the sales and marketing segments.
We have a great open culture in the office, and everyone is focused on what they need to do and deliver. It doesn't matter where they choose to do their work from as long as the idea is to achieve the goal. Every team member is aligned to the vision that our brand carries.
We launched our D2C webstore on the 15th of February 2020. Before we knew it, it was time for our first month review. This was also the time when the lockdown was imposed. Although we were shut during the initial few days, we continued to work post the first few days to meet the growing online demand. We hit 100 orders a day during the lockdown, which gave us decent growth quarter to quarter.
Shrey: We have been using different blends which are loved by the customers, we have a decent repeat percentage, and that's how we are scaling and looking at things going forward as well.
What kind of advice or suggestion would you both like to give to the young entrepreneurs who are coming into the same domain of business?
We have been learning through this process as well. We are fortunate to have some notable mentors on our board whose advice through the year has been deeply valuable to us in our journey as entrepreneurs. One of the things to know in the e-Commerce business is that you have to run fast. As startup founders, there are days you will face difficult challenges. Some mistakes are bound to happen, resolve them calmly. I (Harshith Vij) think you need to be patient enough and keep on trying.
Shrey: It is important to make some losses. But leave them in the initial stage because when you make losses, you learn something out of it. The faster as you learn, the quicker you cut down on your losses.
Shrey Luthra, Co-Founder,Freecultr
A strategic thinker and business developer who is extremely wellversed in identifying market gaps, consumer inclination and product development integrated with innovation, Shrey is skilled in Product, Marketing, Affiliate, Targeting and Content, and believes that data and technology decisions earn maximum returns.
Harshit Vij, Co-Founder & CEO, Freecultr
After working in various projects in the fields of Business Operations, Master Data Management, Nursing standardization, Pricing and analytics, Operations & ERP implementation for 10+ years, Harshit is creating his way of owning a startup for betterment of the sales and marketing segments.