Devansh Jain Nawal, IIM Ahmedabad graduate and ex-Goldman Sachs professional, and Ackshay Jain, former Google executive, co-founded Culture Circle in 2023 as a two-day college experiment. India's largest authenticated luxury fashion marketplace, Culture Circle achieved ₹153 crore GMV in FY26, operates at a ₹250 crore ARR, serves five million monthly active users, and is now valued at ₹400 crore after Ritesh Agarwal invested post-Shark Tank.
A Two-Day College Project, Fake Sneakers, and a Mission to Build Trust
• Culture Circle began as a college project, a two-day experiment aimed at building something meaningful within extreme time constraints. Unsatisfied with the options available in the market, the founders created a platform that solved a problem they personally lived: finding authentic sneakers in India was nearly impossible.
• Founded in 2023 by Devansh Jain Nawal, an IIM Ahmedabad alumnus and former Goldman Sachs professional, and Ackshay Jain, a former Google executive, Culture Circle was built on one foundational conviction: India's sneaker and luxury fashion market was being held back not by lack of demand but by lack of trust.
• The problem was structural. India's Gen Z consumers wanted limited-edition Jordans, Yeezys, Supreme drops, and Balenciaga at the same intensity as their counterparts in New York and Tokyo. But the Indian market had no trusted authentication infrastructure. Buyers received counterfeits. Sellers had no verified platform. And the category's growth was being suppressed by a single missing ingredient: credibility.
• When Culture Circle launched in January 2024, it generated ₹2.2 crore in revenue in its first three months of operations. That number, built with zero paid marketing and purely organic Instagram growth to 175,000-plus followers, confirmed the founders' conviction that the demand was real and the supply of trust was the gap.
SourceX, World-First Dual Authentication, and the Inventory-Free Model That Scales
• The boldest architectural decision Culture Circle made was to build an inventory-free, commission-based marketplace rather than a direct retail business. The startup earns commissions of up to 9% to 30% from sales, with sneakers and footwear accounting for 60% of revenue, apparel 30%, and accessories 10%.
• The SourceX platform allows buyers to compare prices across all KYC-verified sellers simultaneously, access exclusive deals, and purchase with a guarantee of authenticity. Culture Circle became the first platform in the world to offer dual authentication through its partnership with CheckCheck, the globally recognised third-party authentication service used by leading global marketplaces.
• Rather than spending on paid acquisition, the founders built organic community through educational content on sneaker authentication, drop calendars, and investment-grade analysis of limited releases. That community became the brand's most cost-efficient distribution channel and the foundation of a loyal base that Kitty Agarwal of Info Edge Ventures described as exceptional.
They Rejected ₹8 Crore to Take ₹3 Crore. Then Ritesh Agarwal Valued Them at ₹400 Crore.
• This is the detail that defines Culture Circle’s founder DNA more than any revenue figure.
• During their Shark Tank India Season 4 pitch, the founders sought ₹3 crore for 3% equity at a ₹100 crore valuation. Between April and November 2024, the company had achieved GMV of ₹22.2 crore, generating ₹2.5 crore in revenue with consistent profitability over the last three months.
• Namita Thapar offered ₹1.2 crore for 1.2% equity but included a 0.5% royalty clause, which the founders refused, standing firm on their valuation. The negotiations were intense. And then came the extraordinary moment.
• The founders walked away from a larger ₹8 crore offer on Shark Tank India, choosing instead the ₹3 crore deal with Ritesh Agarwal and Kunal Bahl because they believed it better aligned with their long-term vision.
• That decision proved prescient. Shortly after Shark Tank, Ritesh Agarwal invested further in Culture Circle at a valuation of over ₹400 crore, reflecting the company's fourfold growth since the show.
• The $2 million seed round led by Info Edge Ventures confirmed the institutional confidence, with Kitty Agarwal saying: "It is rare to find founders with such a strong founder-market fit. Devansh and Ackshay's passion for sneakers and luxury fashion has enabled them to earn the trust of their 175K-plus social media followers in a short time, with excellent unit economics and loyal customers."
Scale and Real-World Impact
• Culture Circle posted operating revenue of ₹3.4 crore in FY25, a nearly 10X increase from ₹31.4 lakh in FY24, marking its first complete operating year. In FY26, the company achieved ₹153 crore GMV and currently operates at an annual run rate of ₹250 crore, targeting ₹400 crore by March 2026 and ₹1,000 crore ARR by FY27. The long-term vision is ₹4,000 crore turnover within three to five years.
• The platform serves more than five million monthly active users and hosts over 7,000 verified sellers across 2.5 million listings spanning sneakers, streetwear, handbags, watches, perfumes, beauty, and collectibles with 25,000-plus verified positive reviews and a money-back guarantee. Online contributes approximately 90% of revenue while offline contributes 10%. Physical stores operate in Vasant Kunj Delhi, Banjara Hills Hyderabad, and Kopa Mall Pune, with a 6,000-square-foot flagship in Gujarat planned and four UAE stores targeted by end of 2026. Culture Circle plans to expand to 10 to 12 cities including Mumbai, Pune, Gujarat, Haryana, Chennai, and Bengaluru, and internationally into Dubai and Europe.
The Founders Who Understand Their Value Never Accept a Deal That Undermines It
• The sharpest lesson from Culture Circle's journey is this: the founders with the greatest long-term conviction are the ones who walk away from the biggest cheque in the room when the terms do not match the vision.
• Devansh and Ackshay rejected ₹8 crore to take ₹3 crore. That decision looked counterintuitive in the moment. Ritesh Agarwal valued the company at ₹400 crore months later.
• They started with two days and no resources. They built India's largest authenticated luxury fashion platform. They stood firm on valuation in a room full of India's sharpest investors. And they proved that when you know exactly what you are building, you also know exactly who belongs on the journey with you.
• "Reaching ₹153 crore GMV in FY26 represents a major milestone, but we are only getting started. Our focus remains on building the trust layer for luxury and hype fashion in India," Devansh says. Two days. ₹400 crore. And a long way still to go.
Source: Business Standard, Indian Retailer, Indian Retailer, Indian Startup News, Startup Hyderabad, Inc42, BW Disrupt, Tracxn
