Zivame In Talks For $50 Mn Funding In Primary And Secondary Deal: Report

Bengaluru-based online lingerie retailer Zivame is raising a fresh funding round of about $50 Mn. The company is said to have begun initial discussions with private equity funds for the same.

An ET report said that the deal may value the company at $200 Mn. The funding round is said to be a secondary transaction with Zivame’s existing investor Khazanah and Unilazer selling part of their stake to the new investor, who will also make primary capital infusion into the lingerie retailer. “20-25% is to be diluted in Zivame at a valuation of $200 Mn, through primary and secondary transaction,” the report said.

It said that Zivame may use the funds to expand its stores from 35 to 60 by FY20. Recently, Inc42 exclusively reported that Zivame has raised $2.7 Mn equity funding from existing investors Zodius Capital and Avendus Capital. In March, the company announced that it has raised INR 60 Cr funding as part of a bridge Series C funding round led by Zodius Technology Fund and group of HNIs.

The company had said that aligning with its growth strategy, Zivame plans to raise a larger round later in 2019.

The funding was to be used for the ongoing and future retail expansion, augmentation of technology, product development and strengthening Zivame’s omnichannel strategy.

Zivame was founded in 2011 by Richa Kar and Kapil Karekar. It began its operations as an aggregator of lingerie brands. Now along with lingerie, the startup has also forayed into other segments such as activewear, sleepwear and shapewear. At present, almost 42% of sales for Zivame come from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, where online sales are being complemented by physical retail outlets.

In an earlier interaction with Inc42, Zivame CEO Amisha Jain said that as company looks at expanding its reach and scale, Zivame is looking at tech-based innovations to bring more customers. It’s also launching Fitcode 2.0 which Jain said will further revolutionise the online lingerie industry by bringing customised product requirements and stocking inventory in a smart manner according to customer needs.

The company recorded a 56.4% increase in its revenues for the financial year 2017-18 at $12.81 Mn (INR 94.26Cr) from $8.19 Mn (INR 60.25 Cr) in the previous year.

India’s lingerie market stood at around $3 Bn in 2017 and was projected to grow at a robust CAGR of around 14% to reach $6.5 Bn by 2023. This growth can be attributed to the rise in middle-class population and increased number of financially independent women.

Some other notable players in this space are Prettysecrets, Clovia, Cilory, and Shyaway.