Flipkart-Owned Myntra To Lead $18-Million Funding Round In Wildcraft
Flipkart Group looks to acquire nearly 5 percent stake in Wildcraft.
Adventure equipment and outdoor gear firm Wildcraft is in final stages to raise $18 million (around Rs 119 crore) in a round led by Flipkart Group-owned Myntra, two people privy to the development told BloombergQuint.
The Flipkart Group will put in $10 million, while Wildcraft’s existing investor Sequoia Capital will infuse the rest, one of the people quoted above said requesting anonymity as the talks are private. After the investment, Flipkart will hold about 5 percent in the Bengaluru-based company. The deal will value Wildcraft at around $180-200 million, the people added.
Myntra declined to comment. Siddharth Sood, co-founder of Wildcraft, confirmed that the company is in talks with a clutch of strategic investors to raise fresh funds.
“We are holding talks with the Flipkart Group for a possible minority stake, and also with other private equity investors as well, but nothing is finalised yet,” Sood said over the phone. He confirmed that Sequoia will also participate in the round.
The firm is looking to raise around $10-30 million and is also in talks with banks to raise debt funding, he said, without divulging details.
The Ken first reported last month that Flipkart is in final stages of buying a minority stake in Wildcraft.
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The investment will be part of Myntra’s brand accelerator programme, the second person quoted above said. Besides having its own private labels, the online fashion portal has partnered with brands such as AKS, Chemistry, and 20dresses. Wildcraft will be the fourth in the series, both the people quoted above said.
The deal with Wildcraft will help Myntra use the omni-channel approach to launch new products under the Wildcraft brand, they said. Wildcraft will be an exclusive partner on the Flipkart Group with Flipkart.com, Myntra and Jabong under its umbrella.
Founded in 2012, Wildcraft offers shoes, jackets, rucksacks, sleeping bags, tents and hiking accessories. It has two manufacturing plants in Bengaluru and Himachal Pradesh. In 2013, Sequoia Capital invested had $11 million (Rs 70 crore) in the company.
