Lingerie Brand Clovia raises $4 M in funding in a Pre-Series C Round
December 15th 2020: Online lingerie retailer Clovia has secured $4 million in a pre-Series C round from various investors including Golden Birch investments and SheCapital Venture Fund. Initially known as Cloe, the company was started in 2013 by a husband-wife duo Neha Kant and Pankaj Vermani along with Suman Choudhry and Aditya Chaturvedi.
Clovia implied that the fresh funds will be directed towards boosting their products via marketing and in development costs. The funding will also be channelled into expanding its sales channels to gain more revenue. The company has grown 200% last year and is about to become EBITDA positive in a few months, said the CEO. At present, the manufacturing is taking place at a pace of almost a million units per month and ships close to two million units in a quarter.
Clovia has introduced several unique initiatives in its business, such as its proprietary customer data analytics to produce fresh inventories every month. As of now, its website receives 1.5 million views and sells around 250,000 units every month. According to the company, 80% of its sales come from their mobile website and app, among which 50% are generated by repeat customers. Vermani mentioned that the "in-house design and manufacturing gives the company good gross margins". It launches about 200 new styles every month and around 70% of its products on the website are fresh and less than 45 days old. Clovia is present in 200 plus stores across 50 locations and is currently backed by Ivy Cap Ventures, Zurich-based Mountain Partners, and Singapore based AT Capital.
“In the next two to three years, we plan to continue to grow from strength to strength on the back of category growth, and product innovation. Clovia is currently loved by two million customers and the number should double up in two to three years. While we are steadily on that path, we’re also encountering a host of organic/inorganic opportunities to grow internationally,” said Pankaj Vermani, CEO and Founder, Clovia. He proceeded to reveal that his father had a lingerie store in Meerut's Sadar Bazar. Around 1994, when Vermani was in standard XII, his father made it mandatory for him to spend at least two hours a day in the shop.
The brand claims to have seen a remarkable spike in its business amid the pandemic, and it said it recorded a 50 percent growth in FY20 compared to FY19, with 85% sales directed from online channels. There has also been a 6 times rise in sleepwear and loungewear, 3 times rise in maternity lingerie, and feeding nightwear. Clovia has achieved profitability post lockdown with a double-digit EBITDA at the back of improved gross margins.
In the present day market, Clovia competes against lingerie brands, such as Zivame and PrettySecrets. IDG Ventures and Kalaari Capital-backed Zivame had raised $49 million since its inception in 2011. It also has Ratan Tata, the chairman emeritus of Tata group as one of its investors. Whereas MTC Ecom Pvt Ltd owned PrettySecrets has raised over $600 million so far from investors like Orios Venture Partners and Indian Angel Network.
