Mumbai: Damensch, a direct-to-consumer (D2C) men’s lifestyle brand, has raised $16.4 million in a series B funding round led by A91 Partners.

The company makes loungewear and innerwear for men. It will use the funds to invest in technology enhancements, strengthen and diversify the product portfolio, the company said in a release.

Venturi Partners and existing investors Saama Capital, Matrix Partners, Whiteboard Capital and Alteria Capital also participated in this round, Damensch said.

In November 2020, the company had raised about Rs 50 crore in Series A funding from Matrix Partners India, Saama Capital, Whiteboard Venture Partners and Alteria Capital.

The company will use the fresh capital to also recruit more product specialists. “We have leveraged the tailwind from the consumer shopping behaviour shift to online and have clocked Rs 100 crore in annualised revenue run rate or ARR in 2021,” said Anurag Saboo, cofounder of Damensch.

“We are targeting a 3x growth year-on-year in 2022 and will be leveraging multiple channels for increasing our market penetration across geographies,” Saboo said.

Damensch competes with other well-funded startups in the segment such as Dollar Industries, XYXX, Tailor and Circus, and Lavos Performance in the last few years.

Founded in 2018 by Saboo and Gaurav Pushkar, Damesnch’s product line includes ‘Deo-Soft’–India’s first odour cancelling underwear–and ‘Neo-Skin’–thermo-regulating vests made from a curated composition of sustainable bamboo fibres. The company expanded its offering within loungewear and sleepwear in 2021.

Damesnch sells to its target audience–men in the 20-45 age-group–through its website and other major ecommerce retailers, such as Amazon, Flipkart and Myntra.

“We are building a robust tech team to aid us in this next phase of growth while increasing investment in product development to continue to lead with innovation,” said Gaurav Pushkar, cofounder Damensch.

The company claims to have made more than 10 million shipments across more than 50 cities.

“With a meaningful (40%) set of consumers shopping multiple (2-3) times a year, Damensch has managed to grow on the back of loyalty from existing customers and continuous addition of new customer segments,” said Prasun Agarwal, partner, A91 Partners, an early-stage VC fund.

“Damensch has achieved tremendous growth over the last 12 months and is poised to be the leading mass-premium brand for the men’s apparel category in India,” said Sudipto Sannigrahi, Principal, Matrix India.

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