Ratan Tata-backed KAARYAH gets pre-series A funds from Mohandas Pai, Saha Fund

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 raised an undisclosed amount in pre-Series A funding from ex-Infosys director TV Mohandas Pai and Saha Fund.

The startup will use the money raised for headcount expansion, recruitment, digitisation & automation, marketing and improving raw material sourcing, it said in a press statement.

"Women with busy lifestyles look for a good fit and the latest fashion but not at the cost of comfort. We will deploy the funds to scale our operations and reach out to as many women as possible," said Nidhi Agarwal, founder and CEO, KAARYAH.

The startup was founded two years back by Agarwal. She was the director (strategy) at Honeywell India before launching KAARYAH.

KAARYAH caters to women's non-casual wear and it differentiates by offering 18 sizes for each garment. The firm estimates the market for women's western (non-casual) is worth Rs 10,000-15,000 crore.

In June, KAARYAH had raised an undisclosed amount in funding from Ratan Tata, former chief of the Tata Group and currently chairman emeritus of group holding company Tata Sons.

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.

Mohandas Pai, chairman of venture capital firm Aarin Capital, is an active angel investor with a portfolio of over a dozen startups. He has backed startups such as self-drive car rental Zoomcar, fitness startup GetActive and licensed products platform Gingercush, besides others.

New Delhi-based Wigzo, an enterprise marketing automation suite, recently raised $500,000 (Rs 3 crore) in a pre-Series A funding round led by Aarin.

Saha Fund is a VC firm devoted to women entrepreneurs. With $15 million assets under management, it provides early-stage capital to startups across sectors such as e-commerce, social media, mobile, cloud, analytics, education, analytics, healthcare and food-tech among others.

Both Saha Fund and Pai recently invested in software product firm Khemeia Technologies Pvt Ltd, which operates under the Stelae Technologies brand.