Ratan Tata invests in women's online fashion wear brand KAARYAH

KAARYAH Lifestyle Solutions Pvt Ltd, which operates an e-commerce site selling women's fashion wear besides offering its products through third party e-tailers, has secured an undisclosed amount of funding from Ratan Tata, former chief of the Tata Group and currently chairman emeritus of group holding company Tata Sons.

KAARYAH will use the proceeds to strengthen its brand through digital marketing, a spokesperson for the company said.

The startup was founded two years back by Nidhi Agarwal Kashyap, who has over 15 years of experience in strategy, new technology marketing and finance. Before launching the firm, she was the director (strategy) at Honeywell India.

The firm caters to women's non-casual wear and it differentiates by offering 18 sizes to choose from.

The firm estimates the market for women's western (non-casual) wear is worth Rs10,000-15,000 crore and is poised to double over four years. It is looking to grab a piece of the pie.

KAARYAH in effect comes across as a private label fashion brand. Although ventures such as Yepme and Zovi focus on private label fashion wear (Yepme also offers formal wear), KAARYAH exclusively focuses on one segment of the market. Its products are also sold on third-party sites such as Myntra and Jabong, which in turn also offer several of their own private label products.

For Tata, this would be the seventh known personal investment in the tech space. He has also backed Paytm parent One97 Communications, Snapdeal, Urban Ladder, Bluestone and CarDekho besides investing in Chinese handset maker and the world's most valued startup Xiaomi.

US-based airborne wind turbine developer Altaeros and Grameen Capital, which dabbles in microfinance, are also part of Tata's portfolio.