BlissClub raises $18 mn in funding led by Eight Roads, Elevation Capital

BlissClub has seen 25X growth in just 10 months, having gone from raising a seed round in May 2021 to current Series A in less than a year

BlissClub, an active life wear brand for Indian women, has raised $18 million in funding.  Out of this, it raised $15 million in its Series A round, led by Eight Roads Ventures and Elevation Capital. It raised $3 million in debt from Stride Ventures.

The company has seen 25X growth in just 10 months, having gone from raising a seed round in May 2021 to current Series A in less than a year. The company said it is on track to becoming one of the fastest brands to hit the Rs 100 crore  annual recurring revenue (ARR) milestone in India.

The funding round also saw participation from notable angel investors, including Sriharsha Majety (CEO, Swiggy); Ghazal Alagh (co-founder, Mamaearth); Vivek Gupta and Abhay Hanjura (co-founders, Licious); Amar Nagaram (ex CEO, Myntra); Munish Varma and Sumer Juneja (among other SoftBank executives); Brennan Loh (Shopify) and Masoom Minawala (fashion influencer).

The funding will be used for research and development and product development. It would be used for unlocking growth channels including BlissClub’s app and offline. The firm also plans on doubling its team size, strengthening its workforce, hiring across all functions including tech, marketing, business, operations and product design.

BlissClub was founded in 2020 by Minu Margeret as a community-first brand. Margaret, an ISB alumnus and a national level ultimate frisbee player, has previously worked at brands like PhonePe, ABInBev and HUL, before founding BlissClub.

“Women’s fitness has been a completely white space in India, we have just not had anyone build for us. The limited definition of fitness for women has been restricted to weight loss journeys,” said Minu Margeret, founder and CEO, BlissClub says. “We are on a mission to build a wellness ecosystem for the women of India and are just getting started.”

BlissClub has grown 45 per cent month-on-month with only 10 products, supported by our growing customer base. The firm said it is focusing on innovation and engineering incredible fabrics while solving specific problems of women and building a hero products only portfolio.

“We have an incredible talent pool and our growth is a reflection of the efforts by team BlissClub,” said Margeret. “We are 55 per cent women and over 60 per cent of leadership roles are held by women.”

This fundraise comes less than a year after BlissClub raised $2.25 million in seed funding.

Shweta Bhatia, partner and head of technology Investments India, Eight Roads Ventures said Activewear has become one of the fastest-growing apparel categories globally, including India, driven by an increasing interest in fitness and a shift towards comfortable clothing. “BlissClub has received unparalleled customer love and it’s not surprising that they are one of the fastest-growing D2C brands in India today,” said Bhatia.

Chirag Chadha, vice president, Elevation Capital, said BlissClub has grown 25X since the venture capital firm’s seed investment while maintaining industry-leading NPS (net promoter score) scores and repeat metrics. “This is an outcome of a massive unmet need in the market, and Minu (Margeret) and team's razor-sharp focus on execution and brand building.”