The textile industry, including apparel, faces tough and difficult competition. However, with technological innovation and a good business model, clothing startups from Indonesia have been able to go global. Claude is a fast-growing direct-to-consumer clothing company, becoming one of the brands from Indonesia that dares to go global and succeed. Recently, Claude also announced the closing of the seed round, where a number of investors were ready to pour out funding. Claude, as an independent brand that provides relevant, elevated looks, has indeed been busy stealing the hearts of the global market, leaving the comfort zone of the domestic market and expanding to Southeast Asia, Europe and the United States.

"In this global world where technology allows us to cross borders in real-time, becoming a global brand directly increases the total addressable market many times while strengthening the brand equity that we maintain," said Claude's Co-Founder and CEO, Tommy Budihardjo through written statement, quoted Tuesday (20/6/2023).

Revolutionary in its business model, Claude uses a micro-batches system for new designs and produces more only after proven market demand, thereby minimizing waste while increasing speed in offering new designs.

Combined with real-time analysis, Claude understands customer behavior and tastes immediately so he can adapt instantly.

Tommy said, the apparel industry is one of the biggest waste contributors, mainly due to unsold stock. As a result, the industry is slow to make changes.

"So we are happy to lead the development with our business model that has succeeded in reducing finished goods waste by up to 90%, which simultaneously maximizes the company's revenue and profitability," he explained.

He further revealed, Claude's latest financing will be used to increase current product offerings and strengthen markets that have been successfully penetrated.

The funding was led by one of the early supporters of Tokopedia and Kakao Corp, CyberAgent Capital and supported by the Prima Fund I family office.

Managing Director of CyberAgent Capital Inc., Nobuaki Kitagawa said, Indonesia is one of the largest consumer retail markets in the world. "With Claude's strong brand values and the experience brought by the management team, we believe that the company can bring a unique value proposition that can be well received by the huge apparel market in Indonesia and Southeast Asia," he said.