East Ventures Leads Seed Funding for Casual, a Fashion Startup Combining Technology and D2C Approach

The direct-to-consumer (D2C) startup Casual has secured seed funding led by East Ventures. They developed products for everyday wear, with an initial focus on men's trousers. The fresh funds will be used to strengthen the team, technology and factory capabilities, and to expand the company's operations to Solo, Central Java.

In order to facilitate consumers to access its products, Casual has developed its own website. In addition to the sales platform, it also provides several features. The first is called "Build Your Own Product", allowing customers to choose the type of cut and size tailored to their preferences. There is also a "Virtual Fitting" service, providing direct consultation services with the Casual team via video calls regarding sizes, personalized fittings, and product recommendations.

With more efficient ordering process and in-house garment production, products can be delivered to customers in less than 5 days. The personalization and technological approach is said to put Casual the first fashion-tech and instant commerce in Indonesia.

"We realize that the e-commerce trend has rapidly mushroomed and helped customers shop comfortably from home, therefore, they demand manufacturers or sellers who can provide daily necessities, especially pants, more quickly and reliably. However, local brands are currently ignores technology which can actually be a vital aspect in fashion production. This means that customers still don't have a reliable platform to get personalized fashion products instantly," Kasual's Founder & CEO, Alam Akbar said.

It is said that Kasual has experienced a 3x growth when the first pandemic entered Indonesia in 2020 compared to 2019 (YoY). To date, they have served around 80 thousand users and have produced more than 3 thousand products per month.

D2C Trend

Based on data compiled in the "Driving Growth with D2C" report by Ogilvy, Commercetolls, and Verticurl, current brand owners must have a D2C digital strategy to win the market. The main goal is to build a more personal relationship with customers, thereby creating a more effective and engaging brand experience as a value proposition. D2C provides invaluable ownership of customer data.

One case study that is widely told is the success of Perfect Diary, a cosmetic brand from China. Was founded in 2016, the startup achieved impressive growth throughout its 2 years of business. In 2019, they became one of the mos selling of three brands. Eventually, they decided to IPO in 2020 with $7 billion valuation. Its main strategy is solely D2C.

There are three main pillars that brand owners ideally have in its D2C strategy. First, it allows them to find product differentiation, this unique value is considered to invite more customers. Second, the ability to empower customer data to better understand their needs and characteristics. Third, to encourage brand leadership with more agility approach, including on the operational side.

With the same opportunities, some local players try their luck in the sector. East Ventures alone has also invested in another D2C startup in the skin care field named Base and a plant-based beverage called Mohjo. There is also Hypefast to help brand owners sharpen their D2C strategies -- including to provide capital, network, access, and operational support.

On the investor side, apart from East Ventures, several other local venture capitalists have also started to enter the sector. From Alpha JWC Ventures, AC Ventures, and BRI Ventures through Sembrani. Recently, Kinesys has collaborated with The-Wolfpack specifically to strengthen the D2C ecosystem in its portfolio.

In terms of fashion business, sales is currently dominated by online shopping in global. Innovation is required to maintain this growth, along with changing trends that occur among consumers.

The most popular product categories in global online shopping throughout 2021 / Statista

Kasual's further development

Various personalization features will be developed to support Kasual's fashion commerce system. One of which is body measurement with 3D technology to strengthen custom personalization to be introduced by Kasual at its annual event "Custom Week 2021" on 17-19 December 2021 in Jakarta. By using an electronic body scanner, visitors can place custom orders instantly and accurately.

“We are delighted to welcome East Ventures and other investors to the Kasual family. With this funding, we will build a new team, improve the digital experience for customers and manufacturing processes, launch more product categories and marketing initiatives, and use new technologies such as AR measurement to create Indonesia's first 3D body measurement. Going forward, we want to increase and process daily orders by 10x and process more than 5 thousand products every day,” Alam said.

Meanwhile, East Ventures' Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Willson Cuaca said, “Indonesia has one of the most robust digital infrastructures in the region that allows small, custom-made companies like Kasual to thrive. We want to see how far they can go and support them along the company's growth journey.”

-Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian