Myntra to invest in 15-20 brands with Brand Accelerator programme

Flipkart-owned fashion retailer Myntra plans to invest in and forge strategic partnerships with at least 15-20 local fashion brands as part of its new accelerator programme and is simultaneously looking to bring more international brands to its marketplace this year, a top company executive said.

Myntra, which launched its Brand Accelerator programme in December last year, has set an ambitious target of generating a valuation of about $500 million-$1 billion from these private brands over the next three years.

Ananya Tripathi, Strategy Head at Myntra, said in an interview, "One of the big bets we are making is with the Brand Accelerator. We are getting into strategic partnerships with at least 15-20 (local) brands—many of these export houses do great quality manufacturing. What we have is the distribution, which is 18 million customers. So, what we are saying is, ‘Why don’t we come together in a partnership?’ And we are going to invest through our platform in 15 big brands in our country and together we will try to get to a point where in 3 years Myntra has helped create an ecosystem of local brands."

She also added, "In about three years, we are expecting about $500 million to $1 billion of valuation to come from just these domestic brands."

The Brand Accelerator programme aims to help small, local sellers who currently lack visibility and exposure to consumers. Myntra is also exploring licensing partnerships to bring more top international brands onto its platform this year, while also launching a few more private brands. The online fashion retailer, which completed 10 years of operations earlier in February, currently boasts of private labels such as Roadster, Dressberry and Anouk.

Tripathi said, "We want to grow our international brands’ portfolio, grow the share of top brands on the platform—that’s what our theme was on selection. Are there brands which we could acquire, get into licensing arrangements with? We are also open to having an omni-channel presence because for big brands offline is also an important channel for visibility."

Tripathi, adding, "In three months (since launching Brand Accelerator), we’ve got all the leading manufacturing and export houses, all the leading Bollywood and sports celebrities and all the leading brand promoters who have reached out to us."

With the Jabong acquisition, Myntra currently has control over most of India’s online fashion market.