Fashion portal Voonik raises $3 mn in debt funding from InnoVen Capital

Voonik Technologies Pvt. Ltd, operator of an eponymous fashion marketplace, has raised $3 million (Rs 20 crore) in venture debt financing from InnoVen Capital.

The latest round of fundraising follows closely on the heels of its Series B investment of $20 million (about Rs 134 crore) led by venture capital firm Sequoia Capital.

A spokesperson for InnoVen Capital confirmed to TechCircle that the investment round was completed a month ago.

The development was first reported by The Economic Times.

Citing Voonik's chief executive Sujayath Ali, the publication said the capital will be used for marketing, especially via television commercials.

The startup was founded by Sujayath Ali and Navaneetha Krishnan in 2013 and launched Vilara, a marketplace for designers and boutiques, the next year. The startup claims to work on a 'lean' marketplace business model where it operates without inventory and fulfillment centres.

Times Internet Ltd, Seedfund, Beenos, Beenext, Parkwood Bespin, Tancom Investments and FreeCharge founder Kunal Shah also participated in its Series B round, the capital from which is to be used to improve customer experience and personalization, and grow fashion platforms Mr Voonik and Vilara.

Mr Voonik is an app exclusively for men's fashion and Vilara is a marketplace for designers and boutiques.

The Series B round happened exactly a year after the startup announced raising $5 million in Series A funding from Sequoia Capital and Seedfund. However, the company subsequently said it had raised $6.5 million in Series A and $500,000 in seed funding.

The startup competes with the likes of Flipkart-owned Myntra and Jabong and Tiger Global-backed LimeRoad among a host of fashion and lifestyle shopping portals operating in India.

Voonik has been acquiring or acqui-hiring startups to expand. Earlier this month, it acqui-hired Zohraa, a marketplace for designers and boutiques; Styl, a salon and spa booking app; and Picksilk, an online silk store.

Voonik acqui-hired Bangalore-based shopping site for men Getsy in February and bought TrialKart, a mobile platform that provides a virtual dressing room experience, in August 2015. It had also taken on board four employees from Klozee, which recently shut operations.

Venture debt firm InnoVen Capital India has invested Rs 250 crore in several startups over the past several months this year. Last year, it signed venture debt transactions worth Rs 275 crore with startups in the education, healthcare, pharmaceutical and fin-tech spaces.

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