NDTV's ethnic wear e-commerce venture Indianroots raises $5M from KJS Group

NDTV Ethnic Retail Ltd, a subsidiary of media group NDTV that owns and operates ethnic wear-focused e-commerce venture Indianroots, has raised $5 million in a Series A round of funding from Mumbai-based KJS Group, the company said in a statement.

With this funding, the company has been valued at about $85 million.

The firm will use the funds to scale up logistics and delivery mechanism and expand marketing activity.

The e-commerce venture was launched in mid-2013. It is a curated marketplace that houses premium ethnic wear brands and designers like Sabyasachi, Raw Mangoes, Anita Dongre, Neeta Lulla, Indian Artizans and Karigari.

Though the site also offers a few affordable labels like Chhabra Bros and Kurtawala, its primary value proposition is selling premium brands to Indians outside the country.

It showcases over 100 designers and 700 brands and caters to Indian as well as global customer base with India and the US being the two largest markets.

The company reported a GMV of Rs 61 crore for the year ended March 31, 2015, a 12x growth over the previous year.

"Given our interest in the e-commerce sector, partnering with a respected and credible organisation such as NDTV was the obvious choice for us," said Kamaljeet Singh Ahluwalia, chairman, KJS Group.

According to VCCEdge, the research platform of VCCircle, Indianroots previously raised $1.59 million from a private equity player Rathi Strategic Ventures Pvt Ltd in September 2013.

KJS Group, which started with mining operations in 1983, later diversified to iron, steel, power and media. It also plans to enter the telecom sector.

Other players in this space include Utsav Fashion and Cbazaar.