Slikk is betting on private labels, tighter curation and bigger dark stores to unlock its next phase of growth, as the Bengaluru-based fashion startup looks to move beyond its 60-minute delivery proposition, said Akshay Gulati, co-founder and chief executive officer in an interview with Mint.
The startup is expanding its own-label offering, narrowing product discovery around individual shoppers’ preferences and evaluating 15,000-40,000 sq. ft dark stores that can carry deeper inventory and more categories.
The bet comes as ’s first wave faces a tougher test of whether 60-minute delivery can translate into a sustainable business. Startups such as Blip shut down less than a year after launch in 2025, citing limited capital and go-to-market challenges, and Klydo shut shop in July this year after ending brand partnerships.
Larger platforms including Myntra and Reliance Retail have brought rapid fashion delivery into their existing ecosystems, making speed easier to replicate.
Slikk is instead betting that its edge will come from knowing what customers want through sharper product selection, private labels and more personalised discovery.
Beyond speed
“Users already love the selection and love the service. But a selection is quite useless if a user is not able to discover that selection,” said Gulati.
For Slikk, curation does not mean having fewer products. It means showing shoppers a more relevant selection based on their preferences, rather than making them sift through thousands of options. The company is working towards personalizing its app while expanding categories beyond its original focus on western wear.
“We try to run our business like a shop. How do you ask the user the right question and show them the right parts is what we really want to do,” Gulati said.
The shift comes as quick fashion moves beyond its early-mover phase. Bengaluru-based KNOT, an early player in same-day fashion delivery, was among the startups to test the model. Slikk entered the market in August 2024 and recorded ₹43.3 lakh in revenue in FY25, marginally ahead of KNOT’s ₹43 lakh, according to company filings and public financial data.
Taste matters
Myntra entered the segment with in Bengaluru in December 2024, initially offering about 10,000 styles with delivery in 30 minutes. By June 2025, M-Now had expanded to Delhi-NCR and Mumbai, offering more than 90,000 products from over 600 brands through more than 40 dark stores.
Reliance Retail followed with in the June quarter of 2025, bringing rapid delivery to a curated selection of fashion and lifestyle products through its existing retail network. The entry of larger platforms has made delivery speed less of a differentiator for vertical startups such as Slikk.
The contrast in assortment is stark. Myntra’s broader marketplace has upwards of 3 million SKUs, with thousands of options for something as basic as a black T-shirt. For a quick-fashion player, matching that breadth would defeat the purpose of rapid delivery.
“In fashion & lifestyle, the thing that matters the most is relevance of selection. The moat in a business like this therefore has to be curation and taste. Private labels are one way of doing that,” said Rahul Taneja, partner at Lightspeed India, which has invested in Slikk.
Taneja said consumers do not necessarily want to see “infinite choices” and curation is about offering products that are relevant, in trend and available. Managing your selection including private labels is the only way to control relevance.
Private-label play
Slikk launched its first private label, BrownButter, which Gulati said has become a significant part of the business, with customers repeating purchases. The company, however, does not see private labels as a standalone house-of-brands strategy.
“Our job is to get that user the right black shirt at the right price point he or she can afford,” Gulati said. “It is not about whether a private label does it or whether a brand does it.”
The company is also broadening its assortment. Western wear now accounts for less than 40% of its business, according to Gulati, with ethnic wear, footwear and accessories becoming larger parts of the mix. Slikk is also adding watches and sports and plans to go deeper into home and decor, with the longer-term ambition of becoming a fashion and lifestyle platform that can deliver within 60 minutes.
Bigger stores
That expansion is driving the move towards larger dark stores. Slikk currently has six dark stores, each spanning 10,000-20,000 sq ft, and is evaluating expandable real estate of 15,000-40,000 sq ft. Larger facilities would allow the company to increase assortment depth and add categories.
“If you want to serve a large city like Bangalore, you will need upto 8 dark stores potentially. And each dark store has to be sized appropriately to create best coverage of the hyperlocal area,” said Taneja.
Slikk remains focused on Bengaluru, where it currently covers about 55-60% of the city. Gulati said the company sees enough headroom before expanding aggressively into other cities, with Delhi and Mumbai planned for the first half of next year. It plans to take the dark store network to more than 12 in Bengaluru, while targeting ₹100 crore in GMV in the city by March.
Slikk has raised $13.5 million across three funding rounds, including a $300,000 seed round in May 2024, a $3.2 million seed round in January 2025 and a $10 million Series A in May 2025. The Series A was led by Nexus Venture Partners, with participation from Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Its rivals have also attracted significant capital. KNOT has raised about $10.1 million across four rounds, while Zilo has raised $19.9 million across two rounds, including a $15.3 million Series A in February 2026.