TMRW, an ecommerce rollup venture owned by the Aditya Birla Group, has invested Rs 155 crore in menswear brand The Indian Garage Co (TIGC), it said in a statement on Wednesday.
The Indian Garage Co, founded in 2012, chalked up Rs 300 crore in revenue in FY23 alongside a “healthy double-digit profit margin”, the statement added, without giving any details.
The men’s casualwear brand is looking to clock Rs 1,500 crore in the next five years, while focusing on expanding its sales in tier two and three cities.
In November 2022, TMRW had invested Rs 290 crore in eight D2C brands, including casualwear brand Bewakoof, in which it picked up a majority stake.
“We are excited to announce our partnership with TIGC, which expands our portfolio in the casualwear space. With the deep category and brand-building experience as well as the tech-led scaling path TMRW brings, we are confident in establishing TIGC as the leading casualwear brand across men and women,” said TMRW’s chief executive, Prashanth Aluru.
TMRW owns six brands and competes in the house of brands category, where unicorns such as Mensa Brands and Good Glamm Group are also on the prowl.
The model, also known as the ‘Thrasio model’, after the US-based company that aggregated hundreds of Amazon’s sellers, has firms aggregating D2C brands in varied sectors such as apparel, beauty and skincare, home decorations etc under one parent entity.
Anant Tanted, founder of The Indian Garage Co, said the company had reached a place where it needed a partner to help it “take the next big stride” in its growth journey. “Our collaboration with TMRW enables just this,” he added.
On August 28, ET had reported that rival Mensa Brands, which owns 25 brands across the fashion, beauty, FMCG and content sectors, was entering the United Arab Emirates market, and planning to expand into neighbouring Saudi Arabia in the near future.
The space has seen deal movement slow down over the past few months, with Flipkart Ventures and Tiger Global-backed Goat Brand Labs buying Chumbak in a distress sale in January.
In December 2022, Hindustan Unilever Limited invested in Zywie Ventures, which sells plant-based supplement brand Oziva, and Nutrition lab, a month after TMRW invested in Bewakoof.
The investment also comes as Honasa Consumer, parent of direct-to-consumer (D2C) brand Mamaearth, which runs brands such as The Derma Co and BBlunt, prepares for its initial public offering (IPO) on October 31.
