Edison Partners, a growth equity investment firm, has made a USD8 million growth investment in Suuchi, a supply chain platform provider for fashion brands and retailers.
The company will use the funds to accelerate go-to-market execution and product innovation, as well as continue to expand its network of designers, materials suppliers and factories throughout the United States.
In the USD2 trillion global apparel manufacturing market, the need to shrink the time from concept to consumer is prompting more fashion brands and retailers to seek supply-chain modernisation. Suuchi delivers a next-generation approach to apparel supply chains that streamlines the connection of design and sourcing to US-based shop-floor manufacturing and provides complete, real-time transparency throughout the entire process.
“Time is the biggest risk factor for fashion brands and retailers in today’s supply chain, and legacy systems and processes continue to hinder time to market, not to mention growth, profits and consumer experience,” says Kelly Ford, Partner, Edison Partners, who led the investment and joins the company’s board of directors. “Suuchi is changing the game for apparel brands of all sizes, with a network-driven SaaS platform that makes not only speed, but also profitability, possible with ‘made in the USA.’”
Suuchi’s platform is a modern, intuitive SaaS-based application, called Suuchi GRID, powered by a curated network of 200+ freelancers, materials suppliers, and US-based factories with a current available capacity of more than eight million units. Today, more than 200 fashion businesses, from large brands, like Cintas, to mid-tier and emerging brands, like Little Giraffe, are streamlining their supply chain workflows and production on the platform.
“We are reducing fashion supply chain complexity and time to market for brands and retailers by creating a more intelligent bridge between supply and demand; and with our shop-floor subject matter expertise, we are dematerialising the supply chain into a digital, made-local model,” says Suuchi Ramesh, founder and CEO of Suuchi. “With this investment, we are poised to provide a scalable answer to one of the world’s last trillion dollar problems yet to be solved. In Edison Partners, and Kelly Ford, we have the perfect trifecta of strategic vision alignment, enterprise solutions experience, and a world-class team of operating experts to guide our fast growth.”
Ramesh, an immigrant from India, started the company in 2016 after 10-plus years in successful roles in technology, analytics and sales at two companies that became unicorns in their industries. She was an EY Entrepreneur of the Year for New Jersey in 2018 and named to the ROI-New Jersey Influencers Power List for 2019. Last year, the company was also awarded NJ Grow innovation incentives by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority to further develop its business in the state. The company currently employs 120 people at its North Bergen headquarters and is actively hiring for positions in sales, marketing, software engineering, human resources and finance.
Edison Partners has financed and guided more than 200 private companies throughout the eastern United States, a third of which have been in the enterprise solutions space. Suuchi is the 48th investment in the firm’s home state of New Jersey. In addition to Suuchi, Edison’s active NJ-based investments include Northpass, Scivantage, Trialscope and Zelis Healthcare.
