ET BureauNEW DELHI: Tokyo-based incubator and venture capital investor Digital Garage, which is an early investor in Twitter, has made an undisclosed round of investment in Bengaluru-based Elanic, an online platform that allows users to sell their used clothes online.
The Japanese company, which is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is upbeat on investments in early-stage startups and had teamed up with Japan and Singapore-based BEENEXT to make co-investments in Indian startups.
“Basically, we invest $500,000 to $5 million in early-stage companies and generally do not participate as lead investors,“ said Masayuki Sarukawa, director, DG Incubation, the investment subsidiary of Digital Garage which focuses on investments in Japan and Asia. Sarukawa did not comment on the details of the deal but said that the investment is from DG Incubation.
Elanic, a peer-to-peer marketplace that allows users to sell used fashion brands such as Mango, Forever 21 and Zara, among others, was launched in November 2015 by Abhilash Narahari, Palkush Rai Chawla and Aditi Rohan. The company had raised an undisclosed amount in seed capital from venture capital firm Rebright Partners, TracxnLabs and angel investor Aneesh Reddy in 2015.
In July this year, Elanic acquired Secondcry, an online marketplace for pre-owned toys and apparel for children.
The company competes with other startups in the pre-owned fashion category including Zapyle, CoutLoot, Envoged.in, StylFlip and Etashee which cater to growing middle class aspiration to own luxury brands. Digital Garage is actively scouting for more deals in the India market.
“We are looking at more investments in marketplaces and consumer internet. We need to put more focus on the Asia market since at present a majority of our portfolio comprises US companies,“ said Saru kawa. Digital Garage started investing in the Indian market about two years ago and has since invested in 11 Indian startups across multiple sectors.
The Japanese company, which is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is upbeat on investments in early-stage startups and had teamed up with Japan and Singapore-based BEENEXT to make co-investments in Indian startups.
“Basically, we invest $500,000 to $5 million in early-stage companies and generally do not participate as lead investors,“ said Masayuki Sarukawa, director, DG Incubation, the investment subsidiary of Digital Garage which focuses on investments in Japan and Asia. Sarukawa did not comment on the details of the deal but said that the investment is from DG Incubation.
Elanic, a peer-to-peer marketplace that allows users to sell used fashion brands such as Mango, Forever 21 and Zara, among others, was launched in November 2015 by Abhilash Narahari, Palkush Rai Chawla and Aditi Rohan. The company had raised an undisclosed amount in seed capital from venture capital firm Rebright Partners, TracxnLabs and angel investor Aneesh Reddy in 2015.
In July this year, Elanic acquired Secondcry, an online marketplace for pre-owned toys and apparel for children.
The company competes with other startups in the pre-owned fashion category including Zapyle, CoutLoot, Envoged.in, StylFlip and Etashee which cater to growing middle class aspiration to own luxury brands. Digital Garage is actively scouting for more deals in the India market.
“We are looking at more investments in marketplaces and consumer internet. We need to put more focus on the Asia market since at present a majority of our portfolio comprises US companies,“ said Saru kawa. Digital Garage started investing in the Indian market about two years ago and has since invested in 11 Indian startups across multiple sectors.
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