Kaaryah, an online brand which sells non casual wear for Indian women, has today announced that it has raised an undisclosed amount in pre-series A round of funding from T.V. Mohandas Pai and The Saha Fund.
As per the company, it will use the newly raised fund for the recruitment of new people in the company, digitization and automation, raw material sourcing, marketing and forming a brand name.
We are thrilled to have the backing of Mr. Pai and The Saha Fund. The fact that business leaders of the stature of Mr. Ratan Tata and now Mr. Pai have invested in us is a huge validation of our Entrepreneurial effort and our business potential. We will deploy the funds to scale our operations and reach out to as many women as possible.
said Nidhi Agarwal, CEO & Founder, Kaaryah.
The company was founded in September 2013 by Nidhi Agarwal Kashyap, the company claims to be a technology enabled and consumer data analytic driven apparel brand. The company offers a wide range of western apparels for everyday office wear to non-casual party wear. It also claims to be focusing on providing the perfect fit, fashion forward western wear in about 18 different sizes.
Kaaryah functions as an online apparel brand in itself, with all its products branded under the company’s name. It offers wardrobe solutions that help discover not just the perfect fit but also what flatters different body types.
It claims to have invested in a dedicated team for research on body types, fits and lifestyles of Indian women. Currently, as per the company, it is serving around 3,500 orders monthly and also sells across other online marketplaces like Myntra, Jabong, Flipkart, PayTM, Snapdeal, LimeRoad apart from its own website.
Earlier this year, the company had received funding from Ratan Tata. He earlier invested in Paytm parent One97 Communications, Snapdeal, online home decor platform Urban Ladder, Bluestone and CarDekho.
Mr. Mohandas Pai, who invested in this round, said,
To us, that is a critical solution in a huge opportunity space that addresses the most primary need we all face. The team has achieved solid unit economics and WC efficiency by leveraging technology to manage no-stocking delivery – a feat that has generated IP on both front and back-end operations. Their achievements while they were bootstrapped – 15-20% growth despite low marketing spends – further validate their focus on optimizing for the user experience while scaling responsibly from the foundations.
Commenting about the investment, Ankita Vashistha, Founder, The Saha Fund said,
Saha Fund believes in Women entrepreneurship, empowerment, engagement and employment. We see all these qualities at Kaaryah and Nidhi, who is an exemplary entrepreneur genuinely addressing a very large unmet market need. Kaaryah is at the forefront of “Fash-Tech”, with a disruptive business model driven by technology resulting in working capital efficiency, making the business both sustainable and scalable. What is more, they are enabling Indian women to walk the global fashion trend and feel fabulous.
The market in India for women’s western formal wear currently stands at Rs. 100 – 150 billion and is poised to grow twice of that in the next three to four years.
