Deepika Padukone-Backed Mokobara Raises $6.5 Million In Series A Funding The fund raised will be used to scale the research and design, market expansion and launch new experience centres

Mokobara, a D2C luggage startup, has raised $6.5 million in Series A funding round, led by Saama Capital and Sauce VC. The round also witnessed participation from Alteria Capital, Panthera Peak Ventures, Good Capital and individual investors including Varun Alagh (Mamaearth), Ashish Goel (Urban Ladder), Ramakant Sharma (LivSpace), Raul Rai (Good Earth), founders of Licious and Chona Family Office among other. The startup counts Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone as an investor. The fund raised will be used to scale the research and design, also to enter into new categories, expand the team and launch experience centres.

"We are building a brand for the long-term and, to do that, we have prioritized creating a strong financial foundation and a company that solves real pain points of travel through design. What allows us to invest in making exceptionally high-quality products is the fact that we sell directly to consumers without any middlemen," said Navin Parwal, co-founder, Mokobara, in a statement.

Founded in 2019 by Sangeet Agarwal and Navin Parwal, the Bengaluru-based D2C startup, Mokobara offers a wide range of wallets, travel bags, kits, sling bags and so on in their website. It claims make the travel simpler.

"Since our Seed investment, Mokobara has grown 20 times, while maintaining strong financials. The team Mokobara have combined great brand execution with an unapologetic emphasis on design and product quality. Mokobara will be one to watch for years to come," said Manu Chandra, Sauce.vc, in a statement.

As per market study, the fashion and accessories D2C market in India is expected to be worth $43.2 billion by 2025. Consumer electronics would be the largest D2C segment in Indian market, with an estimated size of $30.6 billion. Thus, the overall India's D2C market is estimated to grow over $100 billion by 2025.