D2C Lifestyle Brand eské Raises $1.5 Mn (INR 12 Crores) in Pre-Series A Funding Led by Mistry Ventures

eské, a Mumbai-based Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) lifestyle brand that offers premium handbags, briefcases and accessories has raised a total of $1.5 Mn (INR 12 Crores), in a pre-series A round of funding led by Mistry Ventures. This round also witnessed continued support from Fluid Ventures, one of eské's existing investors.

Having been a key supplier for international luxury brands, eské was launched five years ago, and has seen tremendous traction in a short span of time. Born in India, and made for the world, eské offers a range of handbags, briefcases, and accessories for the global modern consumer in the price range of Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 10,000.

The brand has a strong online presence through its own website and various e-commerce platforms, as well as offline stores in select cities across India. eské plans to use the fresh funds to expand its product portfolio, open experience centres, enhance its technology platform, and enter new markets.

Commenting on the fundraise, Shivam Khanna, founder and CEO of eské, said – “Humbled to partner with Mistry Ventures this early in our journey. Their long-term approach and patient capital will allow us to build eské into a world-class brand, with robust unit economics. India has long been known as a product exporter and brand importer. We will change that. Leveraging our decades of manufacturing expertise producing for the world’s finest brands, we will unleash our manufacturing capabilities, combining it with technology, to build a globally recognized lifestyle brand from India.”

Zahan Mistry of Mistry Ventures said that they were impressed by eské’s vision and execution. “The product quality of eské stands well above anything we have seen in the market. Their innovative and integrated supply-chain enables them to turn around inventory, and new styles extremely fast. We believe that eské has the potential to become a beloved brand in this space, and we are excited to partner with them in their journey”.

About eské:

eské is a direct-to-consumer lifestyle brand that offers premium handbags, briefcases and accessories for the global modern millennial. eské is pioneering the customer-to-manufacturer (C2M) model, leveraging its deep manufacturing expertise, in building a global brand from India. eské was founded in 2018 by Shivam Khanna, a serial entrepreneur with over 10 years of experience in the manufacturing.

For more information, visit: www.eske.in

About Mistry Ventures:

Mistry Ventures is a venture capital firm based in Mumbai. Mistry Ventures was set up by late Mr. Cyrus Mistry, with an aim to incubate new ventures, provide seed, early-stage and growth capital to start-ups. Mistry Ventures has been actively involved in investing in start-ups across multiple domains, including D2C, SAAS, agritech, and more. The firm seeks to back ventures that demonstrate disruptive ideas, strong leadership, and a clear vision for the future.

Ex-Tata Sons Chairman Cyrus Mistry Launches Global Startup Investment Fund

Former Tata Sons Chairman Cyrus Mistry has launched ‘Mistry Ventures LLP’, a new venture capital firm which will invest to incubate new ventures and provide seed, early stage and growth capital to startups in India and worldwide. The new fund will also offer strategic insights to businesses in India and across the world.

The new firm will be jointly promoted by Cyrus Mistry and his elder brother Shapoor Mistry, both promoters of the family-held Shapoorji Pallonji Group.

As a CEO of Mistry Ventures, the Mistrys have roped in Ashish Iyer, who is senior partner and former global leader, strategy practice at the Boston Consulting Group.

Mistry Ventures will focus on providing mentorship and infusing unique capability sets to help startups craft the appropriate business experiments needed to validate, scale and bring products and services faster to market.

"The intent to deliver profit with positive social Aimpact will be embedded in each of the ventures we promote or partner with," said Cyrus Mistry.

He further added that Mistry Ventures will do more than just invest in companies. By interpreting some of the major global and local trends and understanding their impact on industries and companies, it would incubate new businesses, forge partnerships and make investments across sectors.

The development comes exactly two years after Cyrus, 52 was ousted as the Chairman of Tata Sons on October 24, 2016 in one of the most closely followed corporate wars in recent times. The Irish-born Mistry had been appointed in 2012.

Notably, Shapoorji Pallonji Group owns about 18.4% equity stake in Tata Sons and remains the single largest shareholder in the conglomerate. The Mistry family is the fourth richest in the country with a wealth over $18.7 billion, according to Forbes 2018 ranking.

With Mistry Ventures, Cyrus Mystry has joined the league of other corporate investors and high net-worth individuals who actively invest in star-up ventures. This includes Infosys Ltd co-founders N.R. Narayana Murthy, Azim Premji (PremjiInvest), S. Gopalakrishnan, Piramal Group’s Ajay Piramal and Ratan Tata

Source - Financial Express

[Top Image - bbc.com]