Wildcraft plans to raise Rs 150 crore; targets Rs 1,000 crore revenues in FY21

Outdoor clothing and footwear maker Wildcraft India is betting on tactical gear and PPE kits for growth as the sales of its outdoor goods dropped during the lockdown.

While the entire country went into lockdown from March-end to May, Wildcraft quickly changed its strategy to enhance the production of personal protection equipment such as masks (Hazmat suits and respirators). With just two manufacturing units, the company scaled up its operations by tying up with 63 other manufacturers in 11 cities. It supplies raw materials to these manufacturers and the quality is assessed by its own experts in each factory. Today, it is looking at selling over 1 million masks a day and 1 million Hazmat suits a month.

In 45 days, the company’s employee base increased 12 times to touch 30,000 employees at a time when many other industries are laying off their workers.

It has secured government approval for its ‘super mask’ with a proprietary filtration system for three types of particles. These masks have the same level of filtration efficiency of N95 masks and can be washed up to 30 times. It currently sells W95 masks and plans to soon launch new models – W95+ and W99.

The Sequoia Capital-backed Wildcraft is also gearing up to start a supply of rucksacks to Indian armed forces. “We had won an order worth Rs 80 crore from the Indian Army last year for the supply of 200,000 rucksacks. We will start production within a month and supply it to them. The year 2020 is the year in which we start taking the business into the next scale,” Wildcraft co-founders Siddharth Sood and Gaurav Dublish told DH.

They said the company is also developing new products such as storm suits, combat kits, and face shields among others for the armed forces. It plans to ramp up the production of tactical gear for the defense and other security forces. It is currently in talks with police departments in many states for the supply of PPE kits. Wildcraft plans to launch 16 new products a year. It currently sells 2,500 SKUs and developing another 500 SKUs.

Wildcraft has so far raised Rs 400 crore through a mix of equity and debt from investors including Flipkart Group, Fidelis and Sequoia Capital. It is looking at raising another Rs 150 crore this year to fuel its expansion. With a turnover of close to Rs 800 crore in 2019-20, Wildcraft is aiming at a growth of 25% to touch Rs 1,000 crore in FY21.