Indya and FabAlley parent HSE secures ₹50 crore round led by Sangita Jindal

Mumbai: High Street Essentials (HSE), the parent company of women's fashion brands Indya and FabAlley, has raised ₹50 crore in a mix of equity and debt to expand its presence in India's wedding and occasion-wear market. 

The funding was led by Sangita Jindal, chairperson, JSW Foundation. The round also saw the participation of family offices of SRF Group, Krishna Bodanapu of Cyient Technologies and Timmy Sarna from Pure Home + Living. 

While 75% of the capital was raised through equity, the remaining 25% was via debt. Lighthouse Canton advised Indya on this fundraise.

Also read: High Street Essentials raises ₹25.5 crore in fresh funding

In May 2022, the retailer had raised ₹40 crore in a combination of equity and debt from Stride Ventures. 

The fundraising marked HSE's entry into the premium occasion and wedding-wear market. The capital infusion will enable Indya to expand its premium occasion-wear range "Weddings By Indya”. 

Jindal’s investment in Indya indicates JSW Group’s increasing focus on the fashion industry. The Indya investment follows Sangita Jindal-led JSW Foundation’s long-term collaboration with Jade By Monica and Karishma for the Grassroot Artisans Project (GAP).

Strategic Goals

“When we closed the 2022 round the idea was to build a large presence in the wedding-wear market in the mid-to-premium segment. So, we have added a lot on the product and distribution side through our own stand-alone stores and through international expansion largely in the US and some parts of Malaysia, UK and Canada," said Shivani Poddar, co-founder, HSE.

"The idea for this round is to say that now that we've become a fairly large player in the overall occasion and wedding-wear segment, and considering the market opportunity and how fragmented it is, how do we partner JSW and other family offices to build the largest wedding-wear brand in the country,” she added.

The Journey so far

HSE was founded in 2012, and is backed by Elevation Capital, India Quotient, LC Nueva, and IAN. Indya currently has 12 exclusive brand outlets across eight cities, and 150 third-party retail outlets.

“Indya’s core strength lies in their unique designs that cater to the Indian as well as global diaspora. Shivani and Anurag (co-founders) have built strong back-end capabilities and this investment will empower them to fuel Indya’s global expansion, and allow them to take a larger share of the Indian wedding-wear market. Beyond the investment, we are both committed to take India’s heritage textile artistry to the global markets,” said said Sangita Jindal, chairperson, JSW Foundation. 

Opportunities and Challenges

Indya plans to open over 100 wedding stores across India. The wedding wear market is a high margin business, and may help the company improve profitability, said Poddar. The retailer plans to turn profitable this fiscal year, she added. 

Also read: Fashion e-tailer High Street Essentials reports ₹1.3 crore profits in FY19

India's wedding wear market is valued at $15 billion. The fundraising comes at a time when India’s apparel makers are struggling with a demand slowdown. 

 Despite the challenges, the retailer will go ahead with its plans to expand its offline and online footprint, with a focus on south India. “Our eyes are on segments where we can gain unfair advantage. For instance, we are large in the North. While we have an extensive presence in the South, at some point, aggressively expanding over there, may require us to tie up with a strategic partner—whether we look at an acquisition or a tie-up,” said Anurag Murali, co-founder, HSE.