Ronnie Screwvala's Unilazer Ventures leads $6M investment in lingerie e-tailer Zivame

Bangalore-based Actoserba Active Wholesale Pvt Ltd that owns and operates the online lingerie store Zivame has raised $6 million afresh in a round led by Ronnie Screwvala's Unilazer Ventures. Existing investors Kalaari Capital and IDG Ventures also participated in the round. The funds will be used for technology development, visual merchandising and marketing. The latest round will also help in improving personalisation, recommendations and visual merchandising.

Zivame started operations in August 2011 and currently offers deals in lingerie, lounge wear, swimwear and nightwear. In an earlier interaction (October 2013) Richa Kar, founder, Zivame, had shared that the startup was growing 50 per cent month on month and was shipping 500-600 orders a day with the average transaction value being upwards of Rs 1,200. Since then, the women-focused portal has gone through a number of changes and it recently added categories like fashion apparel to its offerings.

"I am proud to have Unilazer on board for our series B funding. Their vast experience in building successful consumer brands will help Zivame in its next phase of growth. In the same breath, I am also gratified by the continued faith showed in us by IDG and Kalaari, helping us come this far in the journey," said Kar, who is also CEO of Zivame, on the latest round of funding.

As per sources, the startup had raised some capital in August this year. Kar, however, denied any such development.

"We are very pleased with our investment into Zivame that is a leader in the lingerie segment. In e-commerce, we look at verticals that have scope to grow exponentially and ability to build product brands in a fragmented market, and in the case of Zivame, we feel the segment is very scalable and lends to private & one-on-one shopping to Indian women - a fast growing segment of consumers," said Screwvala.

In an official statement, the e-tailer claimed to be acquiring 20,000 new customers every month. It also claims that 30 per cent of its buyers come from tier II and III cities. With 50 per cent repeat buyers on a monthly basis, the lingerie e-tailer is aiming at sales of Rs 1,000 crore in four-five years.

(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)