Singapore, October 19, 2023 –– Showroom B2B, India’s leading B2B platform for small unbranded garment retailers, has secured $6.5M in pre-series A funding. Led by Jungle Ventures, the round saw participation from new investors Accion Venture Lab, Saison Capital, and ICMG Partners, existing backers Strive, Gemba Capital, and Titan Capital, and debt partners Alteria Capital and Stride Ventures.
Showroom B2B offers direct access to high-quality clothing products and distributors, removing middlemen who charge hefty fees. The company also provides better access to fair funding to small independent retailers who, despite making up one of India’s largest industries, often lack access to financing through traditional financial service providers. Showroom B2B offers digitally embedded credit products, providing small business owners with a seamless way to purchase inventory on their platform.
The latest round of capital will be pivotal in scaling the company’s first-of-a-kind physical and digital, or “phygital” distribution model for apparels, with Showroom B2B planning to expand its reach within India by opening more “Experience Stores”. Showroom B2B currently operates three stores in different geographies, enabling fashion retailers to interact with manufacturing samples before placing bulk orders. These stores serve as hubs of innovation and provide entrepreneurs with a seamless experience on both the digital and physical fronts. By partnering with over 500 garment manufacturers and 3,000 retailers, Showroom B2B simplifies transactions and doorstep deliveries via its app-based ordering system.
India’s unbranded garment wholesale market is set to surge from $50B to $80B in the next five years. Traditional wholesalers struggle to offer wider portfolio of designs as existing inventories continue to multiply, whilst retailers have to make frequent trips to sourcing clusters to fill in their store inventory. In response to these mounting concerns, Showroom B2B’s distinct asset-light business model offers retailers access to a broader inventory of competitively priced unbranded garments within their local communities.
Abhishek Dua, co-founder and CEO of Showroom B2B, said, “At Showroom B2B, we are proud to be at the forefront of revolutionizing the Indian apparel industry. Our unwavering commitment to removing middlemen and empowering small retailers and wholesalers, who were previously excluded, has yielded impressive results. Notably, our order sizes are consistently 5-10 times larger than competitors, and our industry-low return rate is in single digits, a stark contrast to the industry norm of 25-30%.
But we recognize that there is still much work to be done, and that’s where our new investment comes into play. This infusion of capital will give us significant boost in scaling our operations to make an even greater impact in the untapped sections of the unorganized apparel market.”
Vishesh Sharma, Vice President, India Investments, said “Unbranded garments form the bulk of clothes worn by Indians today, especially in the female ethnic wear and kids wear categories. With major global apparel manufacturing clusters located in Indian cities like Surat-Ahmedabad, Tirupur-Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR, and others, domestically manufactured apparel is going to continue gathering steam. Showroom B2B enables these manufacturers to reach the market more efficiently while at the same time enabling customers to access a wider assortment of designs at competitive prices. We believe the phygital approach adopted by the company will be the future of garment retail in the country and are excited to partner with the team on this journey.”
Rahil Rangwala, Managing Partner, Accion Venture Lab, said “We are firm believers in the power and scale of platforms to disrupt traditional supply chains and provide embedded financial services to large informal SMEs. Showroom B2B’s tech and touch solution has fostered strong trust with both micro retailers and SME manufacturers on their platform resulting in the lowest return rates in the industry in a very competitive sector. We’re excited to support visionary entrepreneurs like Abhishek Dua and Shubham Gupta in their mission to digitize the Indian apparel market.”
Led by IIM Lucknow graduates, Showroom B2B’s expertise draws on their prior success in the B2B furniture industry, where they successfully operated a business manufacturing eco-friendly particle wood boards.
About Jungle Ventures
Jungle Ventures is a Singapore-based venture capital firm focused on early to growth-stage investments in Southeast Asia and India, focusing on building long-lasting businesses. Jungle partners with the region’s most exciting founders to build high-growth, capital-efficient technology businesses, and supports their growth from seed to unicorn to IPO. Our portfolio includes regional and global category leaders like Kredivo, Moglix, Pomelo, Livspace, Builder.ai, Sociolla, and more.
Find out more at www.jungle.vc, or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, or Instagram.
About Showroom B2B
Showroom B2B is a dynamic leader in the B2B apparel trading space, dedicated to transforming the fashion industry through innovation, technology, and a commitment to sustainability. Founded by Abhishek Dua and Shubham Gupta in 2020, Showroom B2B has quickly emerged as a prominent player in the fashion supply chain catering to small retailers and wholesalers in tier 2+ cities in India. With a relentless focus on excellence, it leverages technology to streamline processes and deliver unparalleled value to a diverse clientele of apparel manufacturers, retailers, and brands. Our unique distribution model combines the power of digital platforms and physical “Experience Stores”, offering a seamless and efficient solution for sourcing, procurement, and distribution in the ever-evolving fashion landscape. As it continues to grow and innovate, Showroom B2B remains dedicated to revolutionizing the apparel trading industry, shaping the future of fashion, and exceeding the expectations of our partners and stakeholders.
For more information, please visit www.showroomb2b.com.
About Accion Venture Lab
Accion Venture Lab is a seed-stage investor that provides capital and extensive support to innovative fintech startups that improve the reach, quality, and affordability of financial services for the underserved and have the potential to scale. Backed by commercial and impact investors since the launch of its third-party fund in 2019, Venture Lab has invested in more than 60 early-stage startups that operate in 30 countries worldwide. Venture Lab is a part of Accion, a global nonprofit committed to creating a financially inclusive world, with a pioneering legacy in microfinance and fintech impact investing. Accion catalyzes financial service providers to deliver high-quality, affordable solutions at scale for the 1.8 billion people who are left out of – or poorly served by – the financial sector. For 60 years, Accion has helped tens of millions of people through our work with more than 170 partners in 55 countries.
For further information, visit https://www.accion.org/venturelab.
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