Puneet Sehgal and Shaan Shah's Denim Brand Freakins Raises $4M in Seed Funding

Freakins, a home-grown denim brand, founded by Puneet Sehgal and Shaan Shah, with partner Sachin Shah, has raised $4M in a seed round. The round was led by Matrix Partners India and Blume Ventures, and further bolstered by the contributions of more than 30 angel investors, including some high-profile influencers.

The investors included Revant Bhate (Mosaic Wellness), Navin Agarwal (Sonal Apparels), Chakradhar Gade (Country Delight), Utkrishta Kumar (Meesho), Asish Mohapatra (OfBusiness) and influencers Aayush Wadhwa, Tarini Shah and Agastya Shah.

Puneet Sehgal, with his vast experience in business leadership and supply chain management garnered from his tenure at giants like Hopscotch and Amazon, co-founded the company alongside Shaan Shah, a whiz in the realm of marketing and consumer insights.

Together, their combined expertise, complemented by Sachin Shah's years of proficiency in the denim industry, has allowed Freakins to rapidly resonate with contemporary consumers.


The fresh influx of funds is set to be employed strategically, bolstering the brand’s supply chain capabilities through partnerships with specialist denim, knits, and woven fabrics factories. Furthermore, the resources will also be used to broaden Freakins' omnichannel presence, fortify operations, and enhance its salience amongst its target audience.

"Freakins was launched with the objective of offering denimwear for different body types. Our brand's unique approach has resonated strongly with the youth nationwide. The funding will facilitate our expansion into new categories, further enhance our manufacturing capabilities and extend our distribution footprint,” Puneet Sehgal, Founder & CEO, Freakins shared.

“By owning the end-to-end process, from storefront to design and factories, we maintain exceptional quality control and achieve faster turnaround times, enabling us to adapt to the changing consumer preferences.”


Rajat Agarwal, MD, Matrix Partners India, said, “At Matrix Partners India, we believe that our country will see the emergence of several large consumer businesses over the next decade. As our GDP per capita goes from $2,500 to $5,000, a large proportion of incremental income will go towards discretionary consumption.

“Apparels are a key part of this discretionary basket and we believe Freakins is uniquely positioned to capture the Gen Z fast fashion opportunity. They have innovated supply chain, product design as well as on brand building through their unique influencer-led strategy.

“We are excited to partner with Puneet, Shaan and the Freakins team as they look to build the next fashion behemoth from India”.


Apurva Dixit, AVP Investments, Blume Ventures, stated that Freakins is Blume’s largest bet in consumer brands in recent times.

“At Blume, we believe in investing in brands demonstrating sustainable and profitable growth, targeting large markets. Apparel is an enormous albeit highly competitive category. We believe that in Puneet and Shaan, we have both strong operational DNA and an influential design sense. Freakins has the potential to be the new household name in fashion”.

Freakins was established with the mission of providing the finest denim wear for women in India. The brand boasts of an extensive line-up of over 1500+ styles, featuring trendy fits, washes and rips that cater to diverse body types, preferences, and occasions.


The denim wear market in India is projected to grow at a staggering 25% CAGR over the next five years. - TWL Bureau