Key Takeaways
Underneat started with a consumer frustration: the founders believed many women were compromising between comfort, fit and functionality.
The company was founded by Kusha Kapila and Vimarsh Razdan and launched in April 2025.
The brand focuses on Indian consumers, particularly around body diversity, comfort, climate and everyday lifestyles.
Underneat reached ₹150 crore ARR within eight months of launch while reporting EBITDA positivity.
The company later crossed approximately ₹200 crore ARR within its first year.
It raised $6 million in Pre-Series A funding led by Fireside Ventures in December 2025.
Total funding reached roughly $7 million after the round, according to PTI reporting.
More than 6.5 lakh customers and 9 lakh+ units were reported by mid-2026.
The next phase is omnichannel growth, including expansion into offline retail.
The bigger opportunity is larger than shapewear: Underneat is building toward a broader women's intimate-wear and lifestyle brand.
Underneat: From a Simple Frustration to a ₹200 Crore ARR Brand
Most startups begin with an idea.
Underneat began with frustration.
While exploring the shapewear and intimate-wear market, Kusha Kapila kept coming across the same problem: products existed, but many of them did not seem designed around the realities of Indian women's bodies, climate and everyday lifestyles.
It was a problem many consumers had experienced but simply accepted.
Why should comfort and fit have to be a compromise?
That question eventually brought Kusha together with Vimarsh Razdan, a fashion industry professional with extensive experience across fashion, manufacturing and retail. Their conversations led to a simple realisation: there was room for a brand that put comfort, fit, functionality and confidence at the centre of shapewear and intimate wear.
And that became Underneat.
How Underneat Started
Underneat launched in April 2025 as a direct-to-consumer brand focused on shapewear and intimate essentials for Indian women.
The founders were not trying to create shapewear simply for the sake of creating another fashion label.
The brand positioned itself around a specific consumer problem: women should not have to choose between support and comfort.
Underneat's products are designed around breathable fabrics, fit and movement, with the company's stated philosophy being to create products that work with the body rather than simply compress it.
That consumer-first approach became one of the foundations of the business.
From a Consumer Problem to a Fast-Growing Brand
The speed of Underneat's growth has been remarkable.
Within eight months of launch, the company said it had crossed ₹150 crore in ARR while remaining EBITDA positive.
Then the business crossed another major milestone.
By June 2026, reports said Underneat had reached approximately ₹200 crore in ARR within its first year, alongside more than 9 lakh units sold and 6.5 lakh customers.
For a brand that had been launched only about a year earlier, the pace was significant.
But the interesting question is not just how much revenue Underneat generated.
It is why customers responded so quickly.
The Product Was Built Around the Problem
A common mistake in consumer businesses is creating a product first and searching for a problem later.
Underneat took a different route.
The company identified a gap around fit, comfort and the needs of Indian consumers and built its product range around those requirements.
Its portfolio now includes shapewear, bras, bodysuits, shorts, innerwear and other products, with different fits and solutions for areas such as the tummy, waist, thighs and bust.
The brand's own positioning emphasises fit that adapts rather than simply compresses, breathable support and products designed for everyday use.
That distinction matters.
Underneat is not simply selling a piece of clothing.
It is selling a solution to a specific consumer discomfort.
The Role of Kusha Kapila
Kusha Kapila brought something particularly valuable to the business: a direct connection with consumers.
As a content creator, she already understood how women communicate, what they discuss openly and what problems often remain underrepresented in mainstream fashion.
But her role is not simply about being the public face of the brand.
Underneat's founder profile describes Kusha as a NIFT-trained fashion designer who was closely involved in identifying the product gap and building the brand around Indian women's bodies, lifestyles and comfort needs.
That combination of consumer insight + design understanding + audience trust gave Underneat a strong starting point.
The Role of Vimarsh Razdan
If Kusha brought deep consumer understanding, Vimarsh brought extensive fashion-industry experience.
Underneat's official founder profile describes him as having experience across fashion, manufacturing and global retail. Fireside Ventures also highlights his background in fashion, sourcing, manufacturing and business building.
This combination created an interesting founder-market fit.
One founder understood the consumer conversation.
The other understood how to build and operate a fashion business.
Together, they were able to connect consumer insight with product and operational execution.
Investors Took Notice
The growth quickly attracted institutional investors.
In December 2025, Underneat raised $6 million in a Pre-Series A round led by Fireside Ventures, with existing investor Ghazal Alagh also participating.
The round came less than a year after launch.
At the time, the company had already reported ₹150 crore ARR and EBITDA positivity.
The funding was intended to help Underneat scale its operations and strengthen distribution across Indian cities.
According to PTI reporting, the new round took Underneat's total funding to approximately $7 million.
Why Fireside Ventures Invested
The investment was not simply about Kusha Kapila's popularity.
Fireside Ventures described Underneat as addressing a structurally overlooked consumer category and highlighted its product leadership, execution discipline and early evidence of scale.
That distinction is important.
An audience can help a consumer brand get attention.
But attention alone does not automatically create repeat purchases.
Underneat needed to turn that attention into product-market fit.
The reported customer and sales numbers suggest that the company was able to move beyond awareness and generate substantial consumer adoption.
From D2C to the Next Stage
Underneat began as a digital-first D2C business.
But its next phase is moving beyond purely online distribution.
After reaching ₹200 crore ARR, the company began preparing for offline retail expansion.
This could be an important next step for the brand.
Shapewear and intimate wear are categories where fit matters enormously.
Physical retail can allow customers to understand fabrics, fits and product options in a way that online shopping cannot always replicate.
At the same time, offline expansion brings new challenges such as store economics, inventory management and distribution costs.
So the next phase will test whether Underneat can maintain the speed of its D2C growth while building an omnichannel business.
What Makes Underneat Different?
The real differentiation is not simply that the brand sells shapewear.
There are already many shapewear and innerwear brands in the market.
Underneat is attempting to differentiate through Indian-specific product design, comfort, fit and consumer understanding.
Its product range also goes beyond traditional shapewear into everyday innerwear and accessories.
That gives the company a larger opportunity.
A customer may initially come looking for shapewear.
But over time, that same customer could potentially buy bras, bodysuits, shorts and other intimate products.
The goal is therefore not simply to sell one successful product.
It is to build a broader intimate-wear brand.
The Business Opportunity
The opportunity is significant because women's innerwear is a large and recurring consumer category.
Moneycontrol reported that India's women's innerwear market was valued at around $5.06 billion and could reach approximately $9.57 billion to $12 billion by 2030–2033, supported by urbanisation, rising disposable incomes and e-commerce adoption.
This gives Underneat a large market to grow into.
But the bigger opportunity may be changing how Indian consumers think about intimate wear.
Instead of treating it as a purely functional purchase, brands such as Underneat are increasingly positioning it around comfort, confidence, body positivity and lifestyle.
That creates room for premiumisation.
The Real Challenge Ahead
Rapid growth is exciting.
But it also creates new challenges.
Can Underneat maintain product quality while scaling?
Can it keep customers coming back?
Can it manage inventory efficiently?
Can it expand offline without damaging its margins?
Can it compete with established innerwear and shapewear players?
And perhaps most importantly:
Can a ₹200 crore ARR business become a much larger and sustainable consumer brand?
That is the next test.
The first year proved that consumers were willing to respond to the proposition.
The next few years will determine whether Underneat can build a durable brand around it.
About Underneat
What is Underneat?
Underneat is an Indian D2C shapewear and intimate-wear brand focused on products designed around comfort, fit, functionality and the needs of Indian women.
Who founded Underneat?
Underneat was founded by Kusha Kapila and Vimarsh Razdan and launched in April 2025.
Why was Underneat started?
The founders identified a gap in the market for shapewear and intimate wear that better addressed Indian women's bodies, climate, comfort and everyday lifestyles.
How much ARR has Underneat achieved?
Underneat reported ₹150 crore ARR within eight months of launch and later reached approximately ₹200 crore ARR within its first year.
How much funding has Underneat raised?
Underneat raised $6 million in Pre-Series A funding led by Fireside Ventures in December 2025. Reports said the company's total funding reached approximately $7 million after the round.
Who invested in Underneat?
The $6 million round was led by Fireside Ventures, with existing investor Ghazal Alagh continuing her participation.
How many customers does Underneat have?
By mid-2026, Underneat had reportedly served more than 6.5 lakh customers and sold over 9 lakh units across shapewear, innerwear and accessories.
What is Underneat's next growth opportunity?
The company is looking beyond its D2C foundation and expanding toward offline retail and an omnichannel model, while continuing to grow its shapewear and intimate-wear portfolio.
Final Thought
Underneat's story is interesting because it did not begin with a complicated technology.
It began with a simple question:
Why are women still expected to compromise when it comes to comfort and fit?
That question became a product.
The product became a brand.
And the brand reached a reported ₹200 crore ARR within its first year.
But perhaps the biggest lesson is not the revenue number.
It is the importance of starting with a problem people already feel.
Underneat did not need to convince women that a problem existed.
The founders simply tried to solve a problem many consumers were already experiencing.
That is often where powerful consumer businesses begin.
The next challenge is bigger: turning that early product-market fit into a lasting, nationally recognised and profitable intimate-wear brand.
Because solving an old problem better can sometimes be more powerful than inventing a completely new one.
Frequently Asked Questions
1.What does Underneat sell?
Underneat sells shapewear, innerwear and related intimate-wear products, including bodysuits, bras, shorts and other fit-focused products.
2.Is Underneat an Indian brand?
Yes. Underneat is an Indian consumer brand founded by Kusha Kapila and Vimarsh Razdan and headquartered in Gurugram.
3.When was Underneat launched?
Underneat launched in April 2025 as a direct-to-consumer brand.
4.Why is Underneat different from traditional shapewear brands?
The company focuses on comfort-led design, breathable materials, fit and products designed specifically around Indian women's bodies and lifestyles.
5.Is Underneat profitable?
At the time of its December 2025 funding round, Underneat reported that it was EBITDA positive while crossing ₹150 crore ARR within eight months of launch.
6.How fast has Underneat grown?
The company reported ₹150 crore ARR within eight months and approximately ₹200 crore ARR within its first year. By mid-2026, reports also said it had served 6.5 lakh+ customers and sold 9 lakh+ units.
7.What is next for Underneat?
The brand is moving toward offline retail and omnichannel expansion, while continuing to expand its shapewear, innerwear and accessories portfolio.
