Fashion startup Virgio, has secured $37 million in a new funding round. The company was co-founded by ex-CEO executive of Myntra, Amar Nagaram.
Virgio, a fashion business jointly founded by Amar Nagaram, former CEO of Myntra, has secured $37 million in a fresh funding round. The business hopes to establish “a worldwide fashion brand” in the South Asian market.
Virgio’s Series A fundraising was led by Prosus Ventures, Alpha Wave, and Accel, and valued the one-year-old firm at $161 million (post-money). Virgio claims to have been created this year, but has not disclosed the size of its seed fundraising round.)
According to Virgio, customers’ fashion preferences are fast shifting, and they are dissatisfied with the incumbents’ offers.
It is seeking to address this by expediting design, production, and buying processes in “real-time,” providing a platform for Gen Z and late millennials to explore and purchase new stylish items.
Virgio has a large collection of casual, party, and ethnic apparel.
Every week, new items are added, and clients enjoy substantial discounts and free shipping.
Some have drawn analogies between the startup’s strategy and that of the giant Shein.
Virgio’s founder and CEO, Nagaram stated, “Traditionally, the fashion business has functioned on depth and discount models.”
“At the centre of Virgio is the tech foundation, which is continually listening to emerging trends on social media platforms and anticipating the need for each trend.
This is then integrated into our flexible and responsive supply chain, allowing us to produce the most fashionable, exquisite, and yet affordable range in near real-time.
Thus, Virgio is pioneering the test and scale strategy, making runway fashion accessible and cheap for all consumers whileminimising excess inventory for manufacturers,” said Nagaram, a Flipkart veteran who took over as CEO of Myntra in 2019 before departing the company last year.
According to the business, its full-stack strategy allows it to reduce the traditional lead time of eight to ten months to only one month.
Its eponymous software has already received over 100,000 downloads, according to the company.
(On Sensor Tower, the app displays very few metrics since it is still too tiny.)
Ashutosh Sharma, head of India Investments at Prosus Ventures, stated,
“There is a vast unmet market for branded clothes in India now.
For example, just 25% of women’s fashion is branded clothing.
“The fashion industry in India is thus at a tipping point, driven by changing consumer preferences as a result of social media’s influence, an important Gen-Z characteristic to individualise as a form of expression, and the integration of social commerce with social media platforms.”We believe the startup’s talented founding team is particularly positioned to exploit a huge potential in India’s apparel market,” he said.
Mukesh Bansal, Kunal Shah, Binny Bansal, Bhavish Aggarwal, Vidit Aatrey, Saif Ali Khan, Sriharsha Majety, and Sameer Nigam were among the other entrepreneurs that participated in the round. “
