FreshMonk plans to raise $5 million funding to expand product range

FreshMonk, a custom-design platform that focuses on t-shirts, plans to raise series A funding of $5,000,000 in the first quarter of 2016. The company run by Noida-based 91 Design Labs Pvt Ltd plans to diversify its product line beyond custom apparel to other printed products such as tote bags etc and expand its geographical footprint across East Asia and Oceania. [caption id=“attachment_2546256” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Courtesy: www.freshmonk.com[/caption] It is also diversifying its customer segment by targeting brands and celebrities, both of whom have a captive user base and can engage with them/ monetise them with custom products. The company claims that the hassle-free way of distributing custom products to fans across the world will appeal to these user segments. “We plan to focus on any products besides apparel that can be produced in a short time,” said Prashant Gulati, who co-founded the company with Shashank Agrawal. How it works According to the company’s website, FreshMonk allows you to create and sell t-shirts online. The seller can use the company’s designer tool to design and also decide on the price and set a sales goal. FreshMonk will give you 1-14 days window to campaign for your t-shirts. The t-shirts will be printed only if the seller meets the sales target in pre-orders. If the seller fails to meet the target, the buyer gets a full refund. FreshMonk spends on an average Rs 600-700 on each t-shirt while the sellers could make 18 per  cent to 40 per cent, says Gulati. Future plans “We plan to expand our seller base. As of now, 90 percent of our sellers come from India and the rest from other parts of the world. We hope to change this after we procure Series A funding in the first quarter of 2016,” says Gulati, adding that five out of every 100 visitors to the site turn buyers. He reasons this is because pre-sales makes it possible for anyone to create and sell custom merchandise with no up-front costs. The company has an annual revenue of $2 million and is growing 30 percent on month. It has set a a $100 million target for three years, said Gulati.