India’s quick commerce space just got a fresh jolt of innovation. KNOT, a fast-growing live commerce and instant delivery startup, has secured a $3 million seed round to scale its hyperlocal fashion and lifestyle platform targeted at Gen Z consumers. The funding round was led by Kae Capital and Sparrow Capital, with participation from Boundless Ventures LLP, Kumar Saurabh, WEH Ventures, All In Capital, and founders of SNITCH, The Souled Store, and Bonkers Corner.

Founded by Archit Nanda and Rachit Bansal, KNOT is building a 60-minute delivery ecosystem that blends influencer-driven discovery with lightning-fast fulfillment - putting it at the intersection of content, commerce, and logistics.

A Glimpse Into the Future of Urban Fashion Retail

KNOT is not just an e-commerce platform. It’s a real-time shopping experience where users watch creators go live, explore curated collections, and check out with same-hour delivery. Designed for the impulse economy, the platform mimics the TikTok-era shopping behaviors where attention spans are short, but expectations for speed are sky-high.

The company’s current app delivers fashion, beauty, and lifestyle products to Gen Z consumers in cities like Surat with a promise: order now, wear tonight. With an ecosystem that includes live shows, creator campaigns, and instant doorstep delivery, KNOT is effectively collapsing the distance between inspiration and transaction.

Why the Seed Round Matters

India’s Gen Z population, estimated at over 400 million, is digitally native, brand-aware, and increasingly impatient with slow delivery cycles. While legacy e-commerce platforms like Flipkart and Amazon have made strides in logistics, they often struggle to deliver fashion products within the 1-hour window KNOT is targeting.

The $3 million seed round will go toward expanding KNOT’s geographic footprint, onboarding more content creators, building warehouse microhubs in key cities, and enhancing the app’s recommendation engine. The startup is also hiring aggressively across product, marketing, and operations.

What’s noteworthy is the strategic alignment between KNOT and its investors. Backers include not just venture firms, but founders who’ve built iconic youth brands in India - such as SNITCH, The Souled Store, and Bonkers Corner. This founder-backed capital brings both capital and credibility, enabling KNOT to tap into existing brand equity, influencer networks, and D2C know-how.

This is where most founders miss the mark: solving the operational problem without fully owning the narrative. KNOT’s edge isn’t just its 60-minute delivery - it’s the emotional velocity of its product. Every campaign is designed to capture a vibe and convert it into a sale within seconds. The platform doesn’t just fulfill - it excites. If you’re a founder in consumer tech, consider this: speed gets you noticed, but cultural sync gets you remembered. KNOT’s ability to fuse identity, immediacy, and inventory is what turns casual users into loyal customers.

Built by Founders With Real Street Smarts

Archit Nanda and Rachit Bansal aren’t first-time operators. Their combined experience in retail operations, content ecosystems, and hyperlocal logistics has helped them build a business with deep fundamentals and massive cultural upside. They understand that Gen Z doesn’t just shop - they co-create trends, follow influencers, and expect authenticity over aggressive pricing.

KNOT’s product roadmap includes creator tools for native livestreaming, real-time analytics for sellers, and localized inventory control that syncs with demand pulses from social trends. This infrastructure-first approach, layered with cultural intelligence, is why the platform is showing high retention in its pilot cities.

Their background also gives them a sharp sense of execution. From optimizing micro-fulfillment centers to partnering with influencer-driven D2C brands, Nanda and Bansal are positioning KNOT not just as an app, but as an infrastructure layer for Gen Z retail.

India’s Creator Commerce Landscape Is Heating Up

India’s social commerce wave is still early - but accelerating. Players like Meesho and DealShare have proven the market’s appetite for curated, community-led buying. But few are solving for instant gratification and influencer integration the way KNOT is. While most platforms batch orders or optimize for price, KNOT optimizes for mood - what a user feels now and wants to wear now.

With rapid mobile internet penetration and rising disposable incomes, cities beyond Tier 1 - like Surat, Indore, and Jaipur - are becoming fertile ground for startups that fuse content with commerce. KNOT is betting big on this trend, and early signs suggest they’re onto something massive.

What’s Next for KNOT

The team plans to use the seed capital to scale operations into multiple metro and Tier 2 cities, deepen brand partnerships, and improve personalization through AI. The startup is also exploring physical retail touchpoints and community pop-ups to further tighten the online-to-offline experience.

Additionally, KNOT is looking to open its live platform to a broader creator economy, enabling anyone with a phone and a vibe to become a seller. This decentralization of commerce will make it less about catalogs and more about characters - a narrative Gen Z resonates with deeply.

With speed, taste, and technology on its side, KNOT is aiming to become the go-to platform for India’s youth to shop what they see - and receive it before their impulse fades.