The Pant Project is a Mumbai-based direct-to-consumer brand founded by brothers Dhruv and Udit Toshniwal selling custom-made and ready-to-wear trousers and other bottomwear.

This Startup Deep Dive explains what The Pant Project does, how it makes money, who backs it, how it compares with rivals and what could go wrong, using publicly available information. It is educational and not investment advice. Last updated: October 2026.

The Pant Project in Brief

• What it is: The Pant Project is an Indian D2C bottomwear company based in Mumbai.
• Who it serves: online shoppers, retail customers, marketplaces and distribution partners.
• Sells custom-made trousers where customers pick a design and submit measurements.
• Ready-to-wear range includes cotton, linen, corduroy, jeans, lounge pants and sweatpants.
• Over 300 SKUs, 4.5 lakh products sold and over 2 lakh customers as of 2024.
• Funding: About $4.25 million Series A plus Rs 109 crore Series B (about $11.25 million; one outlet says nearly $11.5 million).

The Pant Project Quick Facts

Figures marked “reported” come from published reports and may differ between sources; “Not disclosed” means no reliable public figure was found.

What Is The Pant Project?

The Pant Project operates in the D2C bottomwear space in India. Understanding a company like this starts with three questions: who is the customer, what painful problem is being solved, and why the solution is better than the alternatives. The sections below apply that lens to The Pant Project.

• Sells custom-made trousers where customers pick a design and submit measurements.
• Ready-to-wear range includes cotton, linen, corduroy, jeans, lounge pants and sweatpants.
• Over 300 SKUs, 4.5 lakh products sold and over 2 lakh customers as of 2024.
• Sells via own website, Amazon, Myntra and its own stores.

The Origin Story of The Pant Project

Every company starts from a noticed gap and a team willing to commit to closing it. Strong origin stories are specific: a clear problem, a founding team with relevant skills, and an early product that real customers could test. Founder-market fit, meaning the team’s lived experience or technical depth in the domain, tends to predict how fast a young company learns.

• Founders: Dhruv Toshniwal, Udit Toshniwal.
• Brothers launched it after struggling to find well-fitting trousers; founding year reports differ between 2019 and 2020.
• Dhruv Toshniwal (CEO) has Wharton business training; Udit (creative director) trained at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
• Family has three generations of textile expertise; grandfather started Banswara Syntex in 1976.
• Operating entity listed as Aanswr Fashion Pvt Ltd.

Key Milestones and Challenges

No startup grows in a straight line. Early years usually involve slow adoption, product rewrites, hiring mistakes and funding gaps. In the D2C bottomwear sector the common turning points are a first paying customer, a regulatory approval, a successful product demonstration or a funding round that lets the team invest ahead of demand. How a team responds to setbacks says more about resilience than any single headline.

• 2019-2020: launched as D2C brand.
• FY23: revenue Rs 16 crore.
• FY24: revenue about Rs 31 crore.
• June 2024: Series A of $4.25 million led by Sorin Investments.
• October 2026: Rs 109 crore Series B plus venture debt from Alteria Capital.
• Plans reported to open about 125 more stores.

The Pant Project Funding and Investors

Funding history shows how much outside confidence a company has attracted and how long it can operate before needing more capital. Figures below are reported and may differ between sources; valuation figures are estimates unless the company has confirmed them.

• June 2024: $4.25 million Series A, led by Sorin Investments with MGA Ventures, Huddle, Dexter Ventures, Indian Silicon Valley and angels
• October 2026: Rs 109 crore Series B, led by Mirae Asset Venture Fund India with Sorin Investments; venture debt from Alteria Capital

How Does The Pant Project Make Money? (Business Model)

A business model describes who pays, how often and how much it costs to serve them. Strong models show repeat usage, improving margins with scale and acquisition channels that do not depend only on paid spend. Weak models show one-off sales, rising costs and growth that stops when spending stops. For companies selling to online shoppers, retail customers, marketplaces and distribution partners, sales cycles and contract size matter as much as headline growth.

• Custom-made and ready-to-wear sales split roughly evenly per the company.
• Omnichannel: website, marketplaces and own stores.
• Pants made in India from internationally sourced fabric.

The Numbers: The Pant Project Financials

Financial figures show whether growth is turning into a self-sustaining business. Small and private companies often disclose little, so any number below is included only if it was found in public reporting.

• FY23 revenue Rs 16 crore.
• FY24 revenue Rs 30.8 to 31 crore, loss about Rs 7.4 crore on expenses of Rs 38.3 crore.
• FY25 revenue Rs 39.43 crore or Rs 40.7 crore (reports differ); profit or loss not found.
• FY26 revenue reported at Rs 80 crore; FY27 target Rs 160 crore with EBITDA breakeven targeted.

Market Opportunity for The Pant Project

Market size is easy to exaggerate, so a useful approach separates the total market from the portion a company can realistically reach with its current product and distribution. The main forces behind demand in this sector are rising internet and smartphone use, growing online retail, digital payments, quick commerce and a younger consumer base that is open to new brands. Each of these widens the opportunity, but capital efficiency and execution decide who captures it.

• Indian bottomwear market is dominated by legacy brands and unorganised retail.
• Global brands such as Uniqlo and Lululemon set fit benchmarks.

Technology and Product at The Pant Project

Technology is rarely the whole moat, but it drives speed, cost and customer experience. A practical way to assess it is to separate the capability the company controls from the commodity infrastructure it rents. In this sector the important factors are supply-chain reliability, brand trust, product quality, data on customer behaviour and the efficiency of fulfilment.

• Plans technology-driven shopping solutions; no specifics found.

Team and Culture at The Pant Project

Teams are the most important and least measurable asset of a young company. Look at how complementary the founders’ skills are, how deep the second layer of leadership is, and how the company hires and retains specialists. Culture shows up in small repeated behaviours: how quickly bad news travels upward and whether commitments to customers are kept.

• Founder brothers run business and creative sides.

The Pant Project Competitors: Competitive Landscape

A fair competitive analysis names direct rivals, adjacent players who could move into the space, and the customer’s default alternative. Durable advantages include proprietary data or technology, licences and approvals, brand trust, switching costs and cost leadership.

Risks and Challenges for The Pant Project

• Reported losses while scaling retail.
• Capital-intensive store expansion.
• Revenue figures differ across sources.
• Competition: low barriers to entry and large marketplaces make it hard for a brand to stay differentiated.
• Customer acquisition cost: paid marketing can become expensive and erode margins as a brand scales.

Risk is not a reason to avoid a company; it is a reason to price it correctly and to monitor the right indicators over time. Regulation in this sector is shaped by consumer protection rules, FSSAI and BIS standards where relevant, the Legal Metrology rules and e-commerce regulations.

The Pant Project Growth Outlook: What to Watch

• Plans to expand to around 150 stores and reach Rs 160 crore revenue by FY27.
• Key indicators: repeat purchase rate, average order value, gross margin, contribution margin and customer acquisition cost.
• Funding position: Whether The Pant Project can reach its next milestone before needing new capital.
• Regulation: Changes from consumer protection rules, FSSAI and BIS standards where relevant, the Legal Metrology rules and e-commerce regulations.

Industry Context: Where The Pant Project Fits

India's consumer market is large, young and increasingly online. Rising smartphone and internet use, digital payments and faster delivery have helped direct-to-consumer brands, marketplaces and quick-commerce platforms reach customers who once relied on local shops. Established companies, marketplaces and new brands now compete for the same shoppers.

Success in consumer businesses usually depends on a clear brand promise, repeat customers and healthy unit economics, not on sales volume alone. Companies that control quality, understand customer needs and manage marketing costs tend to build more durable brands than those that grow mainly by discounting.

For readers new to this field, a useful habit is to separate announcements from evidence. A plan, a partnership or a funding headline describes intent, while a delivered product, a paying customer or an audited financial statement describes results. Comparing the two over time shows how reliably a company turns promises into outcomes.

Bull Case and Bear Case for The Pant Project

An investment thesis is a short, testable statement of why a company could become far more valuable, together with what evidence would prove it wrong. The points below are general to this sector and are not forecasts for The Pant Project.

Bull case

• A growing base of online shoppers expands the potential market.
• Strong brands can earn repeat purchases and pricing power.
• Distribution through marketplaces, quick commerce and stores widens reach.

Bear case

• Heavy competition and discounting can hurt margins.
• Rising marketing costs can slow profitable growth.
• Supply-chain or quality problems can quickly damage trust.

Lessons Founders and Investors Can Take from The Pant Project

Studying a company in the D2C bottomwear space offers lessons that go beyond any single firm. The points below are general lessons for the sector and are not claims about The Pant Project.

• A clear brand identity and consistent product quality matter more than short-term sales spikes.
• Repeat customers lower acquisition costs and make growth more profitable.
• Controlling the supply chain helps protect quality and margins as volumes grow.
• Selling across several channels, such as own website, marketplaces, quick commerce and stores, reduces dependence on one platform.
• Healthy contribution margins are a better sign of progress than revenue growth alone.

How to Evaluate The Pant Project as a Startup

• Customer clarity: Can The Pant Project name its customer and the problem it solves in one sentence?
• Evidence of demand: Look for repeat customers, signed contracts or measurable usage rather than announcements alone.
• Economics: Check whether margins improve as volume grows.
• Execution: Compare announced timelines with what has actually been delivered.
• Funding runway: Estimate how long current capital lasts at the present spending rate.
• Regulatory standing: Confirm required approvals are in place.
• Customer concentration: Check whether a few customers account for most of the revenue.
• Management depth: Look for experienced leaders beyond the founders and a stable core team.

The Takeaway

The Pant Project is part of India’s growing D2C bottomwear ecosystem. The useful lesson from studying it is the discipline of asking structured questions about customers, economics, advantage and resilience. Companies that answer them well, repeatedly and under pressure are the ones that endure. Readers should treat any single report, ranking or funding headline as one input among many, and should re-check key facts against recent company announcements. Because public information on young companies is often limited, patience in verifying claims is part of good analysis. Public sources can also describe the same company in different ways, so it is worth checking dates, definitions and whether a figure refers to revenue, total income or transaction value, and whether it covers one entity or a wider group, before drawing conclusions. Small differences in rounding, currency conversion or reporting periods can also change how a figure reads. Comparing the same figure across several recent reports helps show whether it is stable or has changed over time. This article is educational and is not investment advice.

• Clear customers and repeat demand matter more than announcements.
• Regulation and capital needs shape how fast a startup in this sector can grow.
• Track a few leading indicators over time rather than one headline metric.

The Pant Project FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions

What is The Pant Project?

The Pant Project is a Mumbai-based direct-to-consumer brand founded by brothers Dhruv and Udit Toshniwal selling custom-made and ready-to-wear trousers and other bottomwear. It is profiled in the Startup Deep Dive series, which explains business model, funding, competitors and risks.

Who founded The Pant Project?

The Pant Project was founded by Dhruv Toshniwal, Udit Toshniwal, and the company reports a founding year of 2020.

How much funding has The Pant Project raised?

About $4.25 million Series A plus Rs 109 crore Series B (about $11.25 million; one outlet says nearly $11.5 million). Funding figures are reported and may differ between sources, so readers should check the latest company announcements.

How does The Pant Project make money?

The Pant Project earns revenue from its D2C bottomwear products and services sold to online shoppers, retail customers, marketplaces and distribution partners. The exact revenue mix is described in the business model section and is not fully disclosed publicly.

Who are the competitors of The Pant Project?

Reported rivals include Mufti, Knot Standard, Lirecento, Woodies Clothing. See the competitor comparison above for how they differ.

What are the main risks for The Pant Project?

Main risks include competition: low barriers to entry and large marketplaces make it hard for a brand to stay differentiated, funding and capital needs, competition and regulation by consumer protection rules, FSSAI and BIS standards where relevant, the Legal Metrology rules and e-commerce regulations. This is educational content, not investment advice.

Related Startup Deep Dives: Infiheal — Infiheal’s Healo: IIT Bombay startup’s AI co-therapist | TinyOwl — Raised about $26.5 million, including a $16 million Series B from Matrix Partners, Sequoia Capital and Nexus Venture Partners in February 2015. Browse the full Startup Deep Dive series.

Source

Source: Publicly available data, published reports, industry research, and other credible sources.