[Funding alert] Women’s activewear brand BlissClub raises $2.25M led by Elevation Capital

Bliss Club, a community first women's activewear brand, has raised $2.25 million in seed funding led by Elevation Capital (previously SAIF Partners). The round also saw participation from Neeraj Arora, ex CBO, WhatsApp; Kunal Shah, Founder, CRED; Rahul Mehta, Managing Partner, DST; Pam Lee, Ex-Lululemon Executive; Ashish Goel, Founder, Urban Ladder; Chakradhar Gade, Founder, Country Delight; and Good Capital.

According to a statement shared by Elevation Capital, the fresh funds will be used towards strengthening and growing the team, product development and marketing. Founded in 2020 by Minu Margeret, a national level Ultimate Frisbee player, BlissClub set out to design activewear specifically for Indian women.

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Minu Margeret, Founder, BlissClub said

“I always struggled to find good quality activewear in India - uncomfortable plastic like material, poor sizing and impractical designs. Ankle length leggings were always churidar bottoms for me, sized to the height of western women. Most activewear brands in the country are largely focussed towards men, leaving very limited options designed specifically for the Indian women. From low-quality material to poor sizing and inappropriate designs, we [Indian women] had to make do with whatever we could find. Not anymore."

She added that BlissClub was a community before they launched the product.

"Through our community, we want to enable women to come together and move and live an active life. Apart from conducting various events and fitness challenges, BlissClub is a safe space for women to share, motivate and discuss their fitness journey with each other," adds Minu.

The statement added that activewear as a market in India is seeing a steady growth in revenues. It added, globally, Lululemon is a $45 billion company built on targeting the active lifestyle of women. BlissClub aims to capture that white space in India.

Commenting on the funding, Chirag Chadha, Associate Vice President, Elevation Capital, said “Activewear has found massive adoption across the globe over the last two decades. Today, it has captured more than 20 percent of the total apparel sales. In India, however, activewear has less than three market share. Further, the size of women’s activewear is 4-5X lower than men’s activewear today. Given the varied body types, weather conditions and individual sensibilities and preferences in India versus the west, Minu has identified a big product gap in the space."

Minu added, “India is the world’s fastest growing activewear market with the women’s segment contributing to a majority of the growth. While there has been an increasing awareness about health and fitness among women in the recent past, the current pandemic has accelerated the growth in the women’s fitness space. The new round of funding will be utilised in building our team and strengthening our product and marketing strategy to cater to the growing needs of activewear for women.”