India's fashion and lifetsyle market is valued at $110 billion, of which online fashion accounts for about 10%, according to a joint report from Bain & Co and Aditya Birla Group owned TMRW. Online fashion, the report estimates, will grow to $35 billion by FY2028. In recent years, this highly fragmented market, both offline and online, has seen a proliferation of startups riding on the ecommerce and direct-to-consumer engines. Their growth is being aided by a shift in consumer preferences towards convenience and personalised experiences. Capital follows opportunity and the past few years have seen a number of venture capital firms and angel investors back some of these companies.

Lightbox, for instance, is an investor in made-to-order apparel brand Bombay Shirt Company. Read more about the company's recent funding round and future plans here.

The role of venture capital in fashion was recently the topic of conversation at a panel organised by digital media company The Established as part of the recently concluded Ajio Luxe Wkend in Mumbai. Lightbox's Sandeep Murthy joined the panel to share his perspective on the opportunities and challenges of investing in fashion startups. 

"This is a creative meets data business. As an investor, I have to give enough rope to the creative because I have no idea what's going to work. But the creative has to understand that patience on the data side is limited."

The panel was curated and moderated by Aabha Bakaya, journalist and founder of Ladies Who Lead.

Watch excerpts from the panel discussion in the video (above).