‏إظهار الرسائل ذات التسميات Flatheads. إظهار كافة الرسائل
‏إظهار الرسائل ذات التسميات Flatheads. إظهار كافة الرسائل

Fashion E-Commerce Brand Styched Acquires Shark Tank India 2 Fame D2C Casual Sneaker Brand Flatheads

Styched, a prominent online youth fashion brand, is thrilled to announce its acquisition of Flatheads, a Direct-to-Customer (D2C) online casual sneaker startup that gained fame on Shark Tank India season 2. This strategic move marks Styched's first acquisition, solidifying its position as a leader in the fashion industry. The deal, structured as an all-equity transaction, represents Styched's foray into the footwear segment.

Styched & Flatheads Founding Team During Acquisition
Styched & Flatheads Founding Team During Acquisition

Founded in 2018 by Ganesh Balakrishnan and Utkarsh Biradar Bangalore based Flatheads is an innovative D2C brand specializing in designing all-day wear casual sneakers for the urban audience. Notably, they are the first Indian brand to introduce bamboo fiber shoes, catering to the unique needs of the tropical Indian climate. It raised funds from We Founder Circle, LetsVenture, and angel investors, among others.

Bengaluru based Styched, already known as a production-on-demand fashion apparel brand, will expand into the footwear sector with the acquisition of Flatheads. Leveraging their expertise in production, Styched plans to incorporate its production-on-demand technology into the footwear category, enabling the seamless expansion of Flatheads' existing collection.

On the acquisition Soumajit Bhowmik, CEO at Styched affirmed “We have been following Flatheads for quite some time, and I have personally interacted with Ganesh earlier. The acquisition opportunity came to us through a common investor, and we felt it would be a perfect deal for us considering we wanted to launch sneakers in a big way within Styched as well. The technical know-how of Flatheads would really help us create a wide range of affordable sneakers collection. So, while Styched will continue to play in the sub-1000 INR segment, the semi premium segment would have Flatheads as the flagship brand.

The Flatheads-Styched deal gives new wings to our idea of creating unique footwear for the young Indian. Styched has changed the operating model of creating and delivering fashion, and I'm very excited to see Flatheads taking the next leap together. Young Indians are just starting to flaunt their sneakers as a new fashion and lifestyle statement. The market is evolving, and it will be a unique journey for the category, different from other parts of the world. It will be fulfilling to see Flatheads being an integral part of the market creation and growth,” said Ganesh Balakrishnan, Co-Founder of Flatheads.

Initially, Flatheads will continue offering its existing range of products, with all departments now being operated and managed by Styched. This development will be followed by an aggressive hiring phase aimed at strengthening the footwear department within Styched, ultimately elevating the overall offering.

With this acquisition, Styched reinforces its commitment to providing fashion-forward choices for the youth market, expanding its product range, and embracing innovation in the rapidly evolving fashion landscape.

About Styched

Styched

Styched is India's largest online youth fashion brand. It was started by fashion enthusiasts, who have been in the fashion ecommerce business for most of their career and been part of IIT Kharagpur & ISB grads by education, the founders have been associated with brands like Jabong, Amazon, Foodpanda to name a few, at leadership positions.

D2C Online Brand Flatheads Raises $1 Mn in Pre-Series A from We Founder Circle, Dexter Angels & Others

Team Flatheads

Bengaluru, 16 September 2021: D2C online brand Flatheads has raised USD 1 million in pre-series A round from We Founder Circle, Dexter Angels, and others. The funding round led by start-up investment platform We Founder Circle and angel network Dexter Angels also witnessed participation from other marquee investors including Gaurav Kapur (TV presenter and founder, Oaktree Sports), Sahil Barua (Co-founder, Delhivery) and Radhika Ghai (Co-founder, ShopClues).


Flatheads - a Bangalore-based Direct-To-Consumer online brand that designs all-day wear casual sneakers for the discerning urban audience, was launched with a vision to create versatile sneakers suited for the Indian urban lifestyle. Flatheads is the first Indian brand to introduce bamboo fibre shoes that are uniquely suited for the Indian tropical climate. Flatheads is disrupting the footwear category by building unique products which are well designed, high on comfort and distinctively suited for the young urban consumer.

With this investment start-up investment platform, We Founder Circle completes 20 investments in 2021 in continuation of its mission to fund early-stage start-ups in India. Angel investors investing in Flatheads through WFC include Siddharth Shah, Sandeep Balaji, Hemant Umbarkar, Swati Mittal, Victor Banerjee, Shefali Saxena & NK Securities Research.

(L-R) Mr. Ganesh Balakrishnan, Co-founder & Mr. ​Utkarsh Biradar, Co-founder & CEO
 
On the investment Mr. Neeraj Tyagi, Co-Founder, We Founder Circle said "The funding in D2C sector rose by 251 percent in the first 7 months of the year 2021. The reason is the newly identified scope of growth, and performance of innovative business models in the field. Flatheads have a product innovation focus which has resulted in amazingly lightweight & comfortable shoes. They have taken a tough road by choosing to sell from their website aggressively while using big marketplaces also. As a result, they have created unique value by making their online website also a popular platform to launch multiple product lines in the future."

"The pandemic has accelerated the adoption of online D2C brands, and we are seeing supercharged growth with a focus on everyday comfort. With the current fundraise, we aim to establish Flatheads as a lifestyle brand made in India for the world - by building the brand identity, expanding our presence internationally and investing in product differentiation," said Utkarsh Biradar, Co-founder and CEO, Flatheads.

Tushar Agrawal, Partner at Dexter Angels affirmed, "Urban millennial shoppers are attracted towards indigenous, purpose-driven brands which they can resonate with and which provide them a personalized experience. We at Dexter Angels believe the next decade holds tremendous scale-up potential for innovative D2C brands and we are really glad to add Flatheads into our portfolio. They have built a 'Made in India' brand with world-class quality leveraging their innovative DNA. The passion and customer-centricity of founders convince us that they are on the path of building India's most loved D2C footwear brand".

The brand plans to utilize funds in international expansion and product differentiation in the market. Including the current round, Flatheads has raised a total of USD 1.5 Mn since its inception.

About Flatheads


Flatheads is a Bangalore-based Direct-To-Consumer online brand that designs all-day wear casual sneakers for the discerning urban audience. The brand was launched in November 2019 with a vision to create versatile sneakers suited for the Indian urban lifestyle. Flatheads is the first Indian brand to introduce bamboo fibre shoes that are uniquely suited for the Indian tropical climate. It was founded by Ganesh Balakrishnan and Utkarsh Biradar, who previously founded and successfully exited Momoe, a fintech startup.

Get to know Flatheads better, or explore their wide range of all-day sneakers by visiting www.flatheads.in or @FlatheadsOfficial

About WFC

Established in 2020 in Mumbai, We Founder Circle is a global community of successful founders & amp; strategic angels that have come together to push the startup industry and steer it towards aggressive growth. It invests USD 50K- USD 150K amount in early-stage startups that are fueled with ambition, sustainability and strategic approach. WFC provides seed funding, business development, and global networking opportunities to start-ups as it believes early-stage start-ups need a lot beyond just financial support to become scalable and stable.
beacon

Market Reports

Market Report & Surveys
IndianWeb2.com © all rights reserved