Startup Teesort aims to bring latest fashion to tier 2, tier 3 cities

Growing up, brothers Alok and Atul Aggarwal would be stumped when extended family members, based in smaller cities, would complain about the limited options of fashion clothing available there. This sparked the entrepreneurial gene in them as they saw huge potential in a solution that could address the demand and supply chain gap when it came to fashion clothing in tier 2 and tier 3 cities. The brothers thus founded Teesort in February 2010. Atul, who holds a B.Tech in Computer Science from BITS Pilani, Dubai, was working in France with TCS at that time. He noticed that every second TV ad there was of an e-commerce company and fashion as a category was big.

“This made us think that India will also have a disruption in fashion via a digital medium. That is when we decided to start Teesort.com. By the end of 2011, the brand started getting traction and thereby Atul left his job came back India, to lead the business as a full time venture,” explains Alok. An IMT graduate with extensive experience in operations in the Indian telecom industry, Alok also quit his job the moment they crossed a crore in sales in 2013 and dedicated all his time to entrepreneurship.

Teesort currently functions with a team of around 40. “We have a disciplined team. But we follow an informal culture in office. Fun at work is one of Teesort’s core value. Our employees are allowed to express themselves through their clothing. We don’t follow a formal dress code at work. Work life balance for all our employees is also very essential to us. We have regular team outings to ensure our team is strong and comfortable with each other. We also always keep looking for talent that fits into our team. We ensure that our team feels worthy and confident at all times,” says Alok, sharing more about the team and culture at Teesort. Alok adds that Teesort also has an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) plan in place which ensures shares for employees at higher levels. “So the more Teesort grows, the more its employees grow with it,” says Alok.

Alok informs Tech2 that Teesort is a bootstrapped company and all the money put into building it came out of their life savings. At the end of the first year of operation, they saw a turnover of Rs 1 crore in 2010. Since then, the company has grown at a rate of 300% year on year, resulting in a turnover of Rs 100 crore for the financial year 2015-16. While they are sufficiently equipped in monetary terms, they are looking for investors who bring more than just money to the table. “We focus on unit economics and ensure that profits are reinvested efficiently, contributing towards the growth in business. When it comes to investors, we want someone who fits into and understands our business model,” he says. Talking about the technology areas that the company invests in, Alok says that sizing is a major concern in the sector and they investing in that domain to be able to deliver perfect customer.

When asked what sets them apart from other e-commerce ventures, Alok says Teesort is extremely focused on having its business economics in place. “We ensure that each and every penny spent is efficiently utilised by the business. We are in a very high exponential growing market in this digital world. Very few e-commerce companies currently focus on business economics and profitability,” he explains. He adds that the company’s aim for FY 2016-17 is Rs 200 crore in revenue.

Talking about expansion plans, Alok says that they have forayed into men’s accessories and within the coming quarter they are looking to expand into women and kids segment as well. They have also collaborated with Amazon for the launch of Teesort in US, which will go live within a span of a month. The company is also aiming for expansion in the Middle East in the coming quarters.