B2B Brand Fashinza Raises USD 100 Million In Series B Funding

Fashinza, the Artificial Intelligence-driven B2B marketplace and real-time global supply chain for fashion brands and retailers on June 6, 2022 announced that it has raised a USD 100 million in Series B funding led by Prosus Ventures and Westbridge along with participation from existing investors Accel, Elevation, and DisruptAD. 

The round also saw participation from angel investors Naval Ravikant, Jeff Fagnan, Jake Zeller, Nivi, and Nitesh Banta. The funding round is a combination of equity and debt financing.  

The company said that it will utilise the proceeds of fund towards creating a sustainable supply chain for the global fashion industry and expanding the company’s presence globally.

This includes monetising fintech offerings, expanding into raw material procurement, helping Indian Small, Medium Enterprises (SME) apparel manufacturers with supply chain financing, creating a sustainable supply chain by 2030, and Industry 4.0 solutions for Small-to-Midsized (SMB) manufacturers.  

Pawan Gupta, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and co-founder of Fashinza said, “We are excited to expand our global presence and offer fast and sustainable tech-based supply chain solutions -- especially to our customers in North America. Our goal to help our partner brands and manufacturers work and thrive with an agile supply chain that benefits all is now a reality and already increasingly impacting our customers’ lives.”

Ashutosh Sharma, Head of India Investments at Prosus Ventures said the company has quickly evolved in a space that needs to go beyond the traditional channels.

“The issues of the fashion industry supply chain have grown immensely over the past few years – and these challenges have presented an opportunity ripe for disruption. The Fashinza team has quickly evolved in a space that needs to go beyond the traditional channels. Their exceptional team, dedication to mission, and business acumen at scaling their customer growth are why this investment is important to us,” Sharma said.

In the last 12 months, Fashinza grew the business 10x crossing USD 150 million in annualised Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) run rate.

The company also reduced minimum order units to as low as 50 and reduced design to delivery Turnaround Time (TATs) by 50 per cent in a single year. 

Commenting on the development, Abhishek Sharma, Chief Operating Officer (COO), and co-founder, Fashinza said, “Our mission is to create a sustainable, futuristic, and agile fashion supply chain using technology while improving the ethics and sustainability in the supply chain. We are now also using the massive data to solve financial challenges for our customers and suppliers with our fintech products.”

The company has a roster of over 250 manufacturers in India, Bangladesh, China, and Vietnam that currently serves over 200 brands across six countries, including the United States, Canada, UAE, and India.  

Meanwhile, Jamil Ahmad, Chief Business Officer and co-founder of Fashinza said,“At Fashinza, we believe that we cannot grow alone but only with the growth of our SME partners and customers. The fund’s infusion would help us in executing new strategies and implement new solutions, leading to all-around growth across geographies.” 

Sandeep Singhal, Managing Director (MD), WestBridge Capital expressed happiness over the collaboration and said, “We are thrilled to be part of growth journey of Fashinza. We believe the company has the potential to revolutionise the fashion industry supply chain using technology and we are excited to help take the company to the next level.”

What Is B2B Marketplace?

A B2B marketplace is e-commerce platform that brings together sellers and buyers, enable them to do business in one place. This platform works same as its B2C counterpart but on B2C platform, the sellers are brands, manufacturers, suppliers and wholesalers and the customers are other businesses. These transactions are processed online by the marketplace operator.

Depending on the different natures of B2B selling, a B2B marketplace can also be called other names, including a B2B trading platform, B2B procurement or sourcing website, B2B portal, multi-vendor marketplace, B2B catalog and directory, and more.

There are several B2B marketplaces in India of which, TradeIndia, IndiaMart and Amazon Business are big names among others.

What Is Industry 4.0 Solution?

Industry 4.0 is new Industrial Revolution focusing on on interconnectivity, automation, machine learning, and real-time data.

Industry 4.0 -- encompasses Industrial Internet Of Things (IIoT) and smart manufacturing, marries physical production and operations with smart digital technology, machine learning, and big data to create a more holistic and better connected ecosystem for companies that focus on manufacturing and supply chain management.