Series C round led by Zodius Technology Fund, Khazanah Nasional Berhad.
By Raif Karerat
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Zivame, an online store that wants to revolutionize the way that women in India buy their undergarments, has closed a $40 million Series C round.
The investment is led by new backers Zodius Technology Fund and Khazanah Nasional Berhad, a fund belonging to the Malaysian government, with participation from existing investors Unilazer, IDG Ventures and Kalaari Capital.
CEO and co-founder Richa Kar told TechCrunch she and Kapil Karekar started Zivame to reimagine the lingerie industry and the difficulties within the lingerie buying experience in India.
“Women’s bodies are many different shapes and sizes, and retailers often can’t cover all body types. That means many women [who shop in stores] are forced to compromise on size,” she said.
Kar added that the retail experience is often difficult for women, who often have to a store staffed by men to buy underwear, while few retailers offer the proper fitting services to get a woman’s size correct.
“We’re helping Indian women feel a lot more respected,” she said. “[We aim to] absolutely liberate Indian women compared to the offline retail process.”
The four-year-old company, which has now raised over $45 million in capital, said it will use the fresh injection of funding to expand its business to India, where it claims to sell one bra per minute, according to Tech in Asia.
Specifically, the company will introduce physical “experience stores” — where women can be fitted and seek non-sales advice on their size — while the Zivame service will integrate more community-based features to help its female shoppers tradse recommendations, production opinions and more.
The company recently launched its first native app — on Android, the most popular platform in India — to hone in on mobile traffic, which it stated accounts for 60 percent of its visitors.
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