Aastey, an athleisure brand for women of all body types has raised Rs 10 crore in seed round funding from CXXO, a Kalaari Capital platform aimed at backing women founders with a corpus of $10 million.
Performance wear in India has traditionally catered only to a certain body type, not only excluding a majority of women but also perpetuating body image issues, the company said in a statement. Aasteys mission is to change stereotypes and address the problem of body inclusivity, the company added.
“While we have already optimised our products to suit the Indian market, we want to further our action plan to create a standardised size chart across the subcontinent. This is a massive challenge because of the population diversity that this region boasts,” said Kanupriya Mundhra, cofounder & CCO at Aastey.
The company said it will also focus on building and engaging with its growing community in 2022.
“This funding will help us build our supply chain to scale aastey, while setting the foundation for marketing our brand to propel growth. India is crowded with athleisure brands with no one focusing on the sustainability aspect. The country has a strong ecosystem for homegrown direct-to-consumer ( D2C) brands and there is a huge demand for high-quality athleisure wear in our country.” Jeevika Tyagi, cofounder & CEO of Aastey, said.
Aastey is building India’s first size inclusive brand for athleisure, activewear & essentials for women. Their brand is size inclusive & aim is to blend the boundaries between function, fashion, comfort, size and fitness.
“Technological innovations in fabrics and the body-positivity movement are spurring demand for athleisure products, a trend that we believe will fundamentally change women’s fashion. When we met Jeevika and Kanupriya, we truly saw them as changemakers who could create a vibrant lifestyle brand and community centred on sustainable fashion..,,” said Vani Kola, managing director, Kalaari Capital.
