The archive · Consumer Apps · Product decision · 2025
Underneat's India-first shapewear bet: ₹150Cr ARR in 8 months, then a $6M round
Creator Kusha Kapila's mass-premium innerwear brand for Indian bodies hit ₹150 crore ARR, EBITDA-positive in 8 months; Fireside led a $6M pre-Series A
Underneat (Underneat Clothing Pvt Ltd)
What the business is
Underneat is a mass-premium D2C shapewear and innerwear brand for Indian women — bras, shapewear, bodysuits and intimates sized XS to plus, designed for Indian body proportions and hot, humid weather, sold on its own site and marketplaces.
Starting capital：A $6M pre-Series A led by Fireside Ventures (December 2025), following early backing from Ghazal Alagh, co-founder of Honasa Consumer, who remained engaged as an existing investor.
How it started
Kusha Kapila, a well-known Indian content creator, and Vimarsh Razdan, a fashion-industry veteran, founded Underneat in April 2025 as a mass-premium innerwear and shapewear brand designed for the Indian woman's body. The category had been structurally overlooked in India, and the founders leaned on Kapila's large audience — collecting feedback, repeat purchases and product demands through DMs — to shape the line.
What happened
Within eight months the company crossed ₹150 crore ARR while remaining EBITDA positive, describing itself as among the fastest-scaling D2C fashion brands in India, with a 200,000-strong community. On December 16, 2025 it announced a $6M pre-Series A led by Fireside Ventures, with existing investor Ghazal Alagh of Honasa Consumer staying engaged; funds were earmarked for scaling operations and distribution across Indian cities. Fireside cited a $5.06B women's innerwear market projected to reach $9.57–12B by 2030–2033.
How it ended up
Still scaling as of December 2025: EBITDA-positive at ₹150 crore ARR eight months after launch and expanding distribution across Indian cities after the Fireside-led round; by September 2026 the company's website claimed over one million happy customers.
Background
Underneat is a mass-premium D2C shapewear and innerwear brand founded in April 2025 by content creator Kusha Kapila and fashion-industry veteran Vimarsh Razdan, built around the Indian woman's body — breathable fabrics for hot, humid weather, sizing from XS to plus, and accessible price points.
The category had been structurally overlooked, and Kapila's audience became the research loop: the founders said every repeat purchase, voice note and DM shaped the line. Within eight months Underneat crossed ₹150 crore ARR while staying EBITDA positive, claiming to be among the fastest-scaling D2C fashion brands in India, with a 200,000-strong community.
On December 16, 2025, the company raised a $6M pre-Series A led by Fireside Ventures, with existing investor Ghazal Alagh of Honasa Consumer remaining engaged, to scale operations and distribution across Indian cities. Fireside pointed to a $5.06B women's innerwear market projected to reach $9.57–12B by 2030–2033.
The bet was that Indian women would switch from global-standard lingerie to a brand designed around their own proportions — and that a creator-led D2C launch could move faster than legacy players in a category everyone had ignored.
What has to be true
- India's $5B women's innerwear market was structurally overlooked, with most products designed for cooler climates and standardized measurements.
- Designing for Indian body proportions and hot, humid weather created a real product difference, not just marketing.
- The creator-founder's audience turned DMs and voice notes into a continuous fit-and-fabric feedback loop.
- ₹150 crore ARR and EBITDA positivity within eight months gave the brand evidence of scale before the institutional round.
- D2C-first distribution kept margins and customer data in-house while the brand expanded to marketplaces.
What can be applied
Category gaps hide in local specifics — Indian bodies, heat, sizing — and a founder's audience is a fast research loop; but ₹150Cr in eight months still needs distribution scale to last.
Aftermath
As of December 2025, Underneat remained EBITDA-positive and scaling: the Fireside-led pre-Series A was earmarked for expanding operations and distribution across Indian cities, and the company continued selling through its own site. By September 2026, the Underneat website claimed over one million happy customers, and the brand — bras, shapewear, bodysuits and intimates sized XS to plus — remained a live D2C business with an expanding product range.
Sources
- Kusha Kapila and Vimarsh Razdan's Underneat raises $6 million in funding led by Fireside Ventures
- D2C company Underneat raises $6 million in funding from Fireside Ventures
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