Zouk, a D2C fashion, brand secures $3 million in funding led by Stellaris Venture Partners
- ByStartupStory | March 16, 2023
Zouk, a D2C fashion brand, has announced that it raised $3 million in a funding round led by Stellaris Venture Partners, with participation from Sharrp Ventures, JJ Family Office, Dilip Khandelwal (CEO of Deutsche Bank India), Manoj Meena (founder of Atomberg), and Vineeta Singh and Kaushik Mukherjee (founders of Sugar Cosmetics).
Zouk, a direct-to-commerce fashion brand specializing in bags, wallets, and footwear, has raised $3 million in funding. The company plans to use the funds to expand its collections, promote its brand, strengthen its supply chain, hire more employees, and open offline stores. Zouk aims to open five brand outlets this year, in addition to its existing presence in over 50 retail touchpoints.
Zouk’s last funding round of $1.5 million was also led by Stellaris Venture Partners. The D2C fashion brand is known for its products made with “vegan leather” and has received Peta’s approval. Since its last funding round, Zouk claims to have grown 10 times. The startup plans to expand its collection of Proudly Indian products, including bags and footwear, and launch new products like Backpacks, Baguettes and Clutches. Cofounder Disha Singh said, “The next 18 months are going to see some exciting things from our side.”
At present, the dearth of funding in the startup ecosystem has resulted in distressed sales in the D2C sector. In January, Goat Brand Labs, supported by Flipkart Ventures and Tiger Global, purchased Chumbak as well as other D2C brands in a fire sale. Additionally, conventional brick-and-mortar enterprises such as ITC, Aditya Birla Group, and Unilever have acquired numerous D2C brands such as Yoga Bar, Oziva, Wellbeing Nutrition, and Bewakoof.
According to Rahul Chowdhri, Partner at Stellaris Venture Partners, “Zouk’s capital-efficient growth has been impressive. Therefore, we have decided to increase our investment.” Chowdhri also expressed excitement about Zouk’s plans for expanding into footwear, opening offline stores, and building the brand.
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