Surat apparel brand Sudathi, founded in Sept 2023, by three brothers, Hiren Lathiya, Viren Lathiya, and Darshan Lathiya, offers affordable and high-quality sarees, kurtis, and western wear.

Hiren Lathiya grew up in a humble family in the small town of Saurashtra. After completing his education, he started working at IndiaMart, where he played a key role in the company's e-commerce initiatives. His strong belief in the future of e-commerce in India led him to guide offline vendors in transitioning to online platforms. He also brought his brothers, Darshan and Viren, on board to bolster the technical and marketing aspects of the business.

"It took months to convince Darshan and Viren, but I knew we could create something great together," Hiren said during an interview with Startup Pedia.

In 2014, they started selling apparel on e-commerce platforms, quickly becoming one of the largest sellers. However, they were not entirely satisfied.

9 years later they launched Sudathi to provide affordable and high-quality apparel.

Sudathi offers competitively priced sarees, kurta sets, and Western wear as it manufactures in-house. Their bestsellers include the Banarasi saree starting at Rs 499, generating Rs 1 Cr in revenue in three months, and the Maharashtra Paithani saree priced at Rs 749, often selling out within 5-6 days of its launch.

Sudathi operates extensively with around 70 employees dedicated to the brand and 800 employees including other ventures. They source raw materials from Surat, utilise advanced machinery, and can produce 250,000 pieces of Western wear and kurtis monthly, with the capacity to increase to 400,000 per month during peak seasons.

Hiren said their large-scale production capabilities enable them to maintain quality while keeping prices low and being located in Surat allows them to manufacture high-quality outfits at affordable prices.

Sudathi believes in providing quality and affordability to customers over advertisements. Viren explains that customer testimonials and word-of-mouth are the true brand ambassadors, inspiring continuous growth. Their social media platforms have significantly grown with 40,000 on Instagram, 27,000 on Facebook, and around 4,500 on YouTube.

In the first month of its inception, Sudathi saw 3800 orders, generating Rs 15 lakhs in revenue, it grew to Rs 75 lakhs by 2nd month and crossed Rs 1.3 Cr by 3rd.

The brand now achieves a monthly revenue of Rs 1.3 to 1.6 Cr and aims to reach Rs 100 Cr in revenue within two years.

The mobile app has 1 lakh downloads with a 4.4-star rating within 6 months.

The company plans to launch globally, starting with the USA. They are open to investors who share their vision but are prepared to grow independently.

The co-founder stressed the importance of leadership and learning from failures for budding entrepreneurs.