Former Myntra and AJIO executive Rajesh Narkar and former H&M India executive Louis Coucke have launched Confluxe, a technology-enabled brand operating platform designed to help global fashion and lifestyle brands enter and scale in India.
The startup has raised $1.6 million in pre-seed funding in a round led by Wavemaker Partners, with participation from Kriscore Capital as a co-investor.
Confluxe aims to address a structural gap in India’s rapidly growing fashion and lifestyle ecosystem. While consumer demand for global brands in the country continues to rise, the pathway for international brands to enter and scale in India often remains fragmented, capital-intensive and difficult to execute.
The platform positions itself as an operating layer between global brands and the Indian market by integrating market entry strategy, digital commerce, data-led merchandising and a localized ‘Make in India’ supply chain into a single scalable platform.
By doing so, Confluxe intends to simplify how international brands expand into India while enabling them to operate with greater efficiency and commercial discipline.
Highlighting the launch, Louis Coucke, Co-Founder and COO, Confluxe, said, “One of the key learnings for us has been that brands do not just want access to channels in India—they want a partner that brings together local execution, commercial discipline, and the right technology backbone. The strong response from brands, advisors, and the broader ecosystem reinforces the need for a more modern approach to brand entry. This capital will help us launch our first partnerships, strengthen the team, and build the platform infrastructure that underpins the Confluxe model.”
India’s fashion market, estimated at around $130 billion, continues to attract global brands seeking long-term growth opportunities. However, the infrastructure required to bring international brands into the country and scale them effectively is still evolving.
Rajesh Narkar, Co-Founder and CEO, Confluxe, said, “One of the biggest opportunities in India’s fashion market today lies on the supply side. While consumer demand for global brands continues to grow rapidly, the infrastructure required to bring those brands into the market and scale them effectively is still evolving. At Confluxe, we are focused on building that supply layer by combining technology, commerce, and local execution into a single operating platform. Closing our pre-seed round with Wavemaker Partners and Kriscore Capital reflects confidence in both the market opportunity and the platform we are building. Our focus now is on launching our first brand partners and building the technology and operational foundations to help them scale in India.”
Commenting on the investment, Phuong Tran, Principal at Wavemaker Partners, said “India is rapidly emerging globally as the most important growth markets for fashion and lifestyle brands, yet premium and global brands remain significantly underpenetrated, accounting for only about 12% of the market compared to roughly 30% in mature markets such as the US, Europe, and China.”
“Confluxe creates a new pathway for high quality international brands that are well loved in their home markets but not yet present in India, enabling them to enter and scale in a capital efficient way while giving India’s increasingly sophisticated consumers access to a broader set of global brands previously difficult to discover locally. We believe the founders’ experience across Myntra, AJIO, and H&M uniquely positions them to build this platform.” he added.
Nilesh Balakrishnan, Managing Partner at Kriscore Capital, added:
“India is one of the most exciting consumer markets in the world, but for international fashion and lifestyle brands, ambition and access are two very different things. Building that bridge requires founders who have lived on both sides. Rajesh has navigated every meaningful phase of eCommerce in India, from early category creation through to scale.”
“Louis brings the brand side: having built and operated H&M India, he knows what it takes for an international brand to enter and succeed without losing its identity. India is not a shopify-and-ship market. Confluxe stitches together D2C, marketplaces, offline, and operations on a unified platform, and this is precisely the team to build it.”, he added.
As global fashion brands increasingly look at India as a key growth market, Confluxe aims to position itself as a cross-border platform that bridges global ambition with local execution, enabling brands to build and scale faster in the Indian market.
