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Sequoia Capital invests $8 million in Fashion and You
MUMBAI: Fashion and You, an online private sales website of luxury brands and design apparel, has raised $8 million from private equity firm Sequoia Capital.
The amount will be used to grow the company‘s product offering, strengthen its enterprise technology, expand its distribution capacity and fund future growth initiatives.
Sequoia Capital India managing director Shailendra Singh said, “We are delighted to partner with the founders and management of Fashion and You, who have quickly built Fashion and you into the leading online retailer of premium fashion brands in India with over half a million members who are part of the private shopping club. We are confident that the company will strengthen its position as a frontrunner and continue to grow rapidly even as this space witnesses rapid growth.”
In India, Sequoia has invested in companies such as Café Coffee Day, Edelweiss, Firstsource, Idea Cellular, Ind-Barath Power, Just Dial, Shaadi.com and SKS Microfinance.
Fashion and You Founder and Chairman Harish Bahl said, “Fashion and You was the third to start in its category & is now a clear market leader in Online Fashion Retail in India. The core strength of the organization has been the team and the partners that we have. We are overwhelmed by the response that we have got from our consumers and how our teams and partners have made this otherwise very complex to scale model, work so efficiently. With a premium partner like Sequoia now on board with us, we are even more confident of achieving our initial goal of being the sales platform for most high fashion brands in India contributing to at least 10% of their sales by end 2011.”
Fashion and You was founded in the beginning of this year and is backed by Group Deal Global AG. Fashion and You is headquartered at Gurgaon, India and has its order processing center and warehouse in Delhi, India.
Fashion and You Pearl co-founder and CEO Uppal said, “Fashion and You offers its consumers and clients a pan-India marketing, retail and distribution platform for fashion and lifestyle brands. We believe we are creating a shopping revolution in India and the investment from Sequoia Capital gives us the tremendous impetus that we require right now to leap into a growth spiral. We have committed to deepening our partnership with brands in delivering a world-class direct to consumer marketing and distribution platform, helping brands build a pan national footprint.”
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With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
