Indian D2C start up, The Clownfish, has raised an undisclosed amount from Velocity.in

2026-07-16 02:44:40 Business

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Bengaluru, 17 December 2021: Direct-to-consumer (D2C) startup The Clownfish has raised an undisclosed amount from Velocity.in, India's largest revenue-based financier. This is the first round of external financing The Clownfish has raised.

The Clownfish, a luggage lifestyle brand, offers customers high-quality bags and handbags at affordable prices. Their products range from travel briefcases, messenger bags to trendy backpacks, sling bags, rainwear and more. The venture was co-founded by Mahesh Subbiah and Kushal Bhansali - with an aim to create a brand that resonates with middle-class lifestyle.

"The idea of launching Clownfish dawned on us while discussing how designer brands are out of reach for middle-class consumers due to steep pricing. While the pricing served as a hindrance, the desire to own quality, stylish, functional handbags and luggage was very present." says Mahesh, Co-founder, The Clownfish.

Co-founder, Kushal Bhansali, believes that handbags are now an essential part of personal styling. He added, "Your backpack is not just for storing your items, beyond the functionality of storing items, it also helps make a style statement."

The Clownfish is now gearing up for its next phase of growth with this financing. "Our products are seeing growing demand across Tier 1, 2 and 3 cities. An increase in disposable income coupled with higher spending on branded products has resulted in exponential growth for us.", says Mahesh, "We plan to use the funds from Velocity.in to build our inventory and ramp up our digital marketing efforts. We are looking to achieve 100% year on year growth in the next five years."

Talking about Velocity, Kushal added, "We have found the right partner with Velocity. Velocity?s capital enabled us to effectively build inventory just in time for the spike in demand during the festive season. Velocity is the first external partner that we have raised financing from, and the entire process was extremely seamless."

According to market estimates, the overall luggage market in India stood at about Rs. 7,305 Crores in 2020 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10.3% till 2025. The Clownfish plans to tap into this growth by leveraging its superior quality products and high brand recall.

Speaking about the round of financing, Abhiroop Medhekar, Co-founder & CEO of Velocity, said, "We are delighted to finance The Clownfish and be part of their growth journey. We were impressed by the founding team?s strong industry background. Mahesh has historically built another ecommerce business from scratch while Kushal is a master of distribution. We were able to extend credit based on their focus on margins and impressive growth spurt in a short period of time. We look forward to developing a long-standing relationship with them as they scale new heights."

Velocity.in, a Bengaluru-based fintech, is India's largest revenue-based financier. The company commenced operations in early 2020 and has since worked with over 1,500 e-commerce businesses. With over Rs 1,200 crore of fundable revenues connected to Velocity?s platform, the fintech has already processed 275+ investments.

About Velocity:

Velocity was launched in early 2020 by IIT Bombay graduates Abhiroop Medhekar, Atul Khichariya and Saurav Swaroop. The founding team has a strong background in India's financial services and tech startup ecosystem. They previously worked in companies like Elevation Capital (earlier SAIF Partners), McKinsey, Acko Insurance, and HackerRank. Velocity is their second tryst with entrepreneurship. The trio had earlier worked together at Taskbob, a managed marketplace for high-quality home services.

About Clownfish:

The Clownfish, launched by Mahesh Subbiah and Kushal Bhansali in 2015, is a mass premium lifestyle brand offering high-quality bags, handbags, luggage, and rainwear at an affordable price to their customers. Their products range from travel briefcases, messenger bags to trendy backpacks, sling bags, rainwear and more.