PIRAL scales from $100 to seven figures with funding from Shopify Capital

PIRAL, a boutique women’s clothing company, was founded in 2019 by Mehtap Piral to share her passion for style with the market. After starting the business with just $100 in inventory and a Shopify e-commerce account, Mehtap quickly discovered she had a keen eye for the styles people were looking for.

However, it soon became clear that in order to grow sales, PIRAL would need financing for inventory and advertising. Unfortunately, traditional lenders and investors didn’t see the full potential of the company and weren’t willing to offer favorable terms, so Mehtap funded the business entirely with the income she saved from her 9-to-5 job. Securing financing through Shopify Capital was a turning point for PIRAL, and since receiving initial funding, the brand has:

• It grew from a $100 investment into a seven-figure fashion brand
• They doubled revenue in their first consecutive year and tripled it the following year after securing financing
• Quadrupling the number of employees to meet demand
• Triple the number of new product launches each week
• I had the cash to quickly restock my best-selling products

Challenge: Finding capital to meet demand

Like many bootstrapped startups, PIRAL began with a dream and the founder’s audacity to pursue it. “In those early days, I was working out of someone’s basement, which was also my apartment,” Mehtap says candidly, adding that “my bed was my desk.” Still, Mehtap continued to build her brand, finding styles that customers wanted. “It took six months before I sold anything,” she says, adding, “You have to sell what people like.” As a testament to her determination and fashion sense, demand began to grow, but things didn’t get any easier.

“I was still working nine to five, and then I’d come home and put myself and my excess income into the company. I think I barely slept that first year,” Mehtap says. During that time, she also spent thousands of dollars of her own money on social media ads. Despite growing demand for PIRAL’s latest designs and sales growth fueled by the surge in online shopping during the COVID-19 pandemic, the company lacked the capital for inventory. “When you sell out of product so quickly, the money invested in social media is wasted,” Mehtap says. “It became clear that in order to grow, we had to sell more of what was selling.”

As a result, PIRAL needed capital to generate more revenue. But to find capital, they needed more revenue. After traditional banks refused to help and investors demanded too much in return, Mehtap turned to Shopify for funding.

Solution: Shopify Capital enables inventory growth

Meeting Shopify Capital was a defining moment for PIRAL. “I think I first saw it in my Shopify admin, and then someone reached out to us,” Mehtap says. Even before they received the funds from their first loan, she knew what they needed to do next.

“You have to track what’s selling best, and that changes every year,” Mehtap says. “Before Shopify Capital, we would release a new product every Monday, and it would sell out quickly.” So the company’s first step was to secure more inventory.

“With more inventory, we sold more, and with more revenue, we increased our advertising budget,” Mehtap says. PIRAL doubled down on Instagram and Facebook, the channels that were working for them at the time. Then, the demand their ads created led to even more sales. With sales revenues growing steadily, PIRAL had the opportunity to grow and expand.

Results: Sales rose to unprecedented levels

“Before Shopify Capital, we didn’t have the revenue to support more employees. For years, it was just me,” Mehtap says. “But then everything changed,” he adds, referring to the virtuous cycle of inventory leading to sales and advertising, which allowed PIRAL to hire more employees and dream even bigger.

“The year before we used Shopify Capital, our revenue was $200,000. The year after that, it grew to $500,000,” Mehtap says. Finally, PIRAL was able to fully leverage Mehtap’s keen eye for what the market wanted. “And we consistently grew every month, no matter what challenges we faced, and by the second year after we started working with Shopify Capital, our revenue had reached seven figures,” he adds.

PIRAL not only grew revenue and staff, but also bet on itself by introducing new product lines. “People know us as a denim company: denim tops, pants, jackets, and other products,” says Mehtap, adding that getting into new types of clothing can be expensive. “But we wanted to get into sweatshirts, and with funding from Shopify Capital, we were able to do prototypes.” One particular sweatshirt impressed one A-list star so much that he posted a photo of himself wearing it. When the post went viral, leading to a flood of new demand for the sweatshirt, PIRAL had the funds ready to quickly replenish its stock and make the most of the opportunity.

When asked about Shopify Capital’s overall impact on PIRAL, Mehtap didn’t hesitate. “Without Shopify Capital, I would still be working 9-to-5 and struggling to reinvest in the business. The financial partnership we got through Shopify Capital made all the difference.”

Thanks to Shopify Capital, PIRAL quickly saw results.

• It grew from a $100 investment into a seven-figure fashion brand
• They doubled revenue in their first consecutive year and tripled it the following year after securing financing
• Quadrupling the number of employees to meet demand
• Triple the number of new product launches each week
• I had the cash to quickly restock my best-selling products

Shopify Capital helped PIRAL grow into the brand it is today. We hired new employees, sped up our weekly product deliveries, and were able to produce larger volumes of our best-selling items without having to wait for cash from sales first.