Gen Z apparel brand Outzidr bags Rs 30 Cr from Stellaris Venture Partners
Outzidr plans to use the funds to develop its 'test-and-react model', double down on brand-building efforts, and invest in inventory.
Online fashion retailer Outzidr has raised Rs 30 crore in a funding round led by Stellaris Venture Partners to serve affordable and trendy outfits to Gen Z consumers.
The round also witnessed participation from angel investors, including Ramakant Sharma (LivSpace) and Ghazal Alagh (Honasa Consumer).
Founded by Nirmal Jain, Mani Kant Mani, and Justin Mario in 2024, the company went live with its D2C platforms earlier this year. It aims to reach Rs 100 crore of annualised run rate in the next 6-8 months.
Outzidr, which focuses on offering occasion-appropriate dressing, relies on its flagship 'test-and-react model' to bring the latest trends quickly to racks. It focuses on identifying the most relevant trends and rapidly developing products around those insights. It works with low MOQs (minimum order quantity) and scales up bestselling styles once there is proof of adoption.
"Every day, countless trends emerge. If you try to launch products for all of them using a traditional fashion manufacturing model, the inventory burden becomes unmanageable," Nirmal Jain, Co-founder of Outzidr tells YourStory.
It plans to use the majority of funds to build its test and react capability, including investing in people, technology and building partners. Along with that, the capital infusion will also support its brand-building efforts and maintain inventory.
While the brand currently sources its fabrics both domestically and from international markets, it plans to shift 90% of its manufacturing to India in the next two years. It currently works with less than three weeks of inventory.
"Making the test-and-react model work at scale, requires strong foundational capabilities across demand sensing, product development and sourcing, and automated merchandising. And we are quite focused on building these capabilities, even at this stage. It will be our key differentiator as we grow. It helps us offer trendier styles, probably first to market, with greater variety while staying commercially viable, which is essential," says Jain, who has over a decade long experience in the industry.
Jain, who has had previous stints at Myntra, was the founding CEO of Styli, a Middle East-focused fast fashion brand and was responsible for scaling the business to Rs 800 crore in less than five years. Mani was SVP for Digital & Omni business at Max fashion, and Mario was COO, leading supply chain and strategy at Aymakan and Styli.
“An attractive market of affordable fashion for GenZ, along with the team’s unique and differentiated ‘test & quick react’ solution approach and a strong founder-market fit, form the three key pillars of our investment thesis. Nirmal, Mani and Justin, not only come from the domain but also bring a proven track record of achievement within it," said Mayank Jain, Principal, Stellaris Venture Partners.
Edited by Kanishk Singh