Aiming to further its services in Bangalore and create a footprint in other metros, Bangalore-based online tailoring service Urban Tailor has raised an undisclosed amount from Unitus Seed Fund and BS Nagesh, a retail industry veteran.
Within a year, Urban Tailor, which stitches customised women’s everyday wear, has serviced over 20,000 customers recording a steady 40% month-on-month growth and 52% repeat customers.
Prior to this, in July 2015 Urban Tailor had raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding led by a group of angel investors (mostly ex-Myntra executives).
Investor B. S. Nagesh said, “As a retailer, I see two trends here – while offline and online sales of garments continue to be on the rise, I know that a big chunk of ready-made apparel doesn’t always fit the customer well. And the market for ready to stitch and the fabric hasn’t dipped either. With both, I believe there is a huge opportunity and potential for Urban Tailor to become a branded, nationwide, on-demand service for tailoring and alterations, that is reliable and of high quality.”
Urban Tailor follows a three-step ordering process. Once a customer chooses the style and pattern of a dress like salwar/kameez, kurta or blouse and places an order online, the pick-up service will collect the fabric and measurement for the garment from the customer’s premises.
After confirming the measurements and the customization requirements, the fabric is sent for stitching and the stitched product is delivered within 10 days. The cost starts at Rs. 400.
Dave Richards, the co-founder and managing partner of Unitus Seed Fund, said, “The company’s product platform that dynamically manages supply, demand and quality of service in real-time are poised to bridge the gap for quality tailored clothing at an affordable price, paving the way for e-tailoring to become a preferred choice.”
Urban Tailor was founded by Vasudevan T, Venkatraman and Ashish Singhal. Vasudevan is a computer science graduate and a core member of Amazon India’s technology team for four years. Venkatraman is a fashion graduate from London College of Fashion and National Institute of Fashion Technology, who has also worked with Myntra for four years and Singhal has wide experience in marketing and who headed the marketing and product division of online training company Simplilearn.
