Zodius Capital buys out shares of Zivame from existing investors

Early-stage technology investment firm Zodius Capital has hiked its shareholding in lingerie e-tailer Zivame by buying out the stakes of venture capital firms Kalaari Capital and IDG Ventures India, a report in a financial daily said.

Zodius now controls almost 45% of Zivame, The Economic Times reported, citing several people in the know.

“With this deal, Zodius now controls three of the six board seats in the company though it has not filled any of the two additional seats,” one of the persons privy to the development told ET.

Shilpa Kulkarni, managing director at Zodius and board member of Zivame, confirmed the development to ET.

When contacted by TechCircle, Zivame declined to comment.

The firm recently underwent a management reshuffle. Early this month, the company brought on board Amisha Jain as its new chief executive officer. Jain replaced Shaleen Sinha who served as CEO for little over a year. Sinha took over the reins from co-founder Richa Kar sometime in early 2017. Kar has continued to serve on Zivame’s board.

Prior to joining Zivame, Jain served as the CEO at apparel firm Arvind Sports Lifestyle and was also the head of the Arvind Group’s digital centre of excellence.

In October 2017, Zivame appointed former Nando’s India CEO Sumeet Yadav as executive chairman. Yadav is now working with company in an advisory role.

In September 2015, Zivame raised Rs 250 crore in its Series C funding round from Zodius Technology Fund and Khazanah Nasional Bhd, the investment holding arm of the Malaysian government. According to ET, the deal valued the lingerie e-tailer at over $100 million.

Zivame, which is run by Bengaluru-based Actoserba Active Wholesale Pvt. Ltd, was founded in 2011 by Kar who previously worked with German software firm SAP.

The firm is the most funded player in the lingerie e-tailing segment, having raised more than $50 million till date.

It is facing tough competition from Clovia which is fast catching up, in terms of revenues. Besides Clovia, Zivame competes with Buttercups, Pretty Secrets, Cilory, and Shyaway, among others.

For the financial year 2016-17, Zivame recorded its first-ever dip in revenue since its launch in 2011. It recorded net sales of Rs 52.9 crore, down about 15% from Rs 62.6 crore in the previous fiscal. Its losses stood at Rs 57.6 crore for 2016-17, wider than Rs 54.1 crore in the year before that.