Mumbai-based ethnic etailer, Craftsvilla, has raised about $34 Mn in Series C round of funding led by existing investors Sequoia India and Lightspeed Venture Partners. Besides, Nexus Venture Partners, Global Founders Capital and Apoletto also participated in this round, taking the company’s value at $200 Mn, post investment.
Founded in 2011 by Monica & Manoj Gupta, Craftsvilla, is an online marketplace for unique handmade, handcrafted, organic and gift items. It also has apparel, jewellery, bags, home decor items, etc. The startup claims to have over 25,000 sellers on its platform, selling close to 3.5 Mn products.
“Craftsvilla empowers small household manufacturers of ethnic apparel and products to sell their products to customers across the world. Craftsvilla has risen to category leadership in the ethnic space with a lean marketplace model that has scaled in an unusually capital efficient manner. We are excited to continue to back them to grow Craftsvilla to the next level,” said Shailendra Singh, Managing Director, Sequoia Capital India Advisors.
Margins in the ethnic category are somewhere between 60-80%. As per Manoj, Craftsvilla typically gets a 20% commission on products sold.
Manoj Gupta, co-founder & CEO at Craftsvilla, said “We are looking at a valuation of at least a billion dollars in the next 12-18 months, before we go public. Our aim is to hit $500 Mn in GMV over the next one year.” The company is currently clocking $120 Mn in GMV annually.
The online ethnic wear market size is poised to be around $300-500 Mn in size with ecommerce players like Cbazar, IndianRoots, and online marketplaces like Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon pushing their presence in this segment.
The raised funds will be utilised for marketing and international expansion. The company is already operating in Malaysia and is also planning to launch in Indonesia.
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