Actor Sanjay Dutt has invested in the $5,00,000 funding round of the sneakers marketplace DawnTown.
Sujit Jain, Managing Director of Netsurf Communications Pvt Ltd and Mylab Founders also participated in the round.
The investment will be used by DawnTown to establish a physical retail presence in India and eventually its global expansion. It is expected to contribute to the brand’s plans to enhance the technology and shopping experience to offer consumers authentic sneakers and apparel right at their doorsteps.
On his investment, Sanjay Dutt said, “I have been a sneakerhead all my life... I was smitten by the make, designs, and colours. I am so thrilled and excited to attach my name to a whole range that represents my love for sneakers. We plan to go wild with it and create groundbreaking products together.”
Adding to this, Jain said, “Empowering young and talented entrepreneurs is always delightful. The team at Dawntown has figured out many relevant aspects of their business model at an early stage. I was impressed with their focus on authenticity and knowledge of contemporary fashion trends.”
Commenting on the fundraiser, DawnTown Founders Kushagra Patwari and Risheek Agrawal said, “With this investment, our major goal would be to set up our flagship store in Pali Hill, Mumbai, curate our inventory, enhance the experience for the consumer, and provide sellers a platform to sell their sneakers while getting the fastest payout.”
The company also plans to open multiple retail outlets in India to augment the offline sneakers shopping experience for its consumers.
Company’s background
DawnTown was founded with the vision to provide their patrons access to an exclusive range of sneakers and streetwear that are not easily available at retail stores and websites at the best price.
Sneakers and streetwear were a thing only in tier-1 cities before the lockdown, but after the Covid-19 pandemic, there is a high demand in tier-2 and -3 cities as well.
Sneakers release in specific quantities with demand much higher than the supply, hence leading them to get into the resale market. People get these drops and manage to flip them quick and earn high profits. Usually, sneakers copped for retail are sold to friends and family or aggregators like Dawntown who authenticate them and sell it ahead to the consumer.