Lingerie e-tailer Clovia raises Series B funding from AT Capital, others

Delhi-based Purple Panda Fashions Pvt. Ltd, which operates online-first lingerie and sleepwear retailer Clovia, has raised $10 million (Rs 71 crore) in its Series B funding round led by AT Capital Pte. Ltd, which specialises in buyout and growth capital. Existing investor IvyCap Ventures and private investors also participated in the round.

The investment will primarily be used for product and technology development, scaling up the brand portfolio, expanding to newer geographies, increasing operational efficiencies and strengthening the team, Pankaj Vermani, chief executive and founder of Clovia, said in a press statement.

Clovia designs, manufactures and sells fashion lingerie, innerwear, nightwear, and shapewear through its websites and other ecommerce portals like Myntra, Flipkart and Amazon. The brand launched offline sales six quarters ago, and has 12 exclusive brand outlets currently. It also sells on other retail chains like Central and Brand Factory. Last year, the company expanded overseas.

The company, formerly known as Cloe, was founded by husband-wife duo Neha Kant and Vermani, along with friends Suman Choudhry and Aditya Chaturvedi, in 2013. It was renamed as Clovia in June 2015.

Clovia claims to sell over 500,000 pieces of lingerie a month. According to the firm, over three-quarters of its business is online and about 60% of its overall revenue is from Tier-II and Tier-III cities.

The company has raised multiple rounds of investments from a host of investors including IvyCap Ventures, Singularity Ventures, Mountain Partners AG, and Ravi Dhariwal, former chief executive of Bennett, Coleman and Company Ltd. In its most recent funding round, Clovia raised $4 million from IvyCap, Singularity and Dhariwal in April 2017.

Clovia pared its losses as its revenue rose for the financial year ended March 2018. Clovia cut its net losses to Rs 8.6 crore for 2017-18 from Rs 10.2 crore the previous year. Net sales grew 34% to Rs 51.8 crore for 2017-18 from Rs 38.7 the year prior. Total expenditure increased to Rs 60.8 crore from Rs 49.1 crore during the period.

Clovia competes with players such as Zivame and PrettySecrets, apart from fashion e-commerce companies such as Myntra and horizontal online retailers such as Amazon and Flipkart. Zivame is the most-funded lingerie e-tailer and has raised capital from multiple investors including Kalaari Capital and Chiratae Ventures (earlier known as IDG Ventures India). 

Clovia’s bigger competitor Zivame, run by Actoserba Active Wholesale Pvt. Ltd, reduced its losses for the first time. Its net losses nearly halved for 2017-18 to Rs 32.1 crore, from Rs 57.6 crore for 2016-17.

Headquartered in Singapore, AT Capital Group was founded by Arvind Tiku, to leverage global opportunities across established as well as emerging sectors. AT Capital Group has an asset portfolio worth approximately $2.5 billion, with global investments in residential and commercial real estate, hospitality, natural resources, renewable energy, engineering, construction and retail. The group's geographic and financial reach continues to grow through its strategic investments in high-growth sectors globally.