Zivame sells a bra a minute, raises $40 million as lingerie gets hot

We Indians are a shy lot. We would rather pretend that we don’t wear underwear than be seen buying it. So when lingerie came online, it made our lives so much easier and we took to it. Bangalore-based Zivame, founded by Richa Kar in 2011, led the movement and is now the country’s largest online lingerie retailer.

Initially, it had to “educate” a large segment of the population about underwear. Why one should invest in good underwear, the importance of a bra that doesn’t sag, how a good bra improves one’s posture, confidence, and what not.

From everyday underwear to sexy lingerie, as well as maternity, plus size and bridal lingerie, Zivame brought an array of intimate wear for women online.

It also paid heed to Indian reticence when it comes to lingerie. So orders made on Zivame were delivered discreetly – the outer package bears no insignia that might let delivery boys know there’s lingerie inside. This proved to be a hit with women shoppers. The company’s data scientists did their bit to come up with “confidence boosting products.”

The persistence and attention to details paid off. Today, Zivame claims to sell more than one bra per minute. 60 percent of its revenue comes from products developed in-house, and 30 percent of revenue from second- and third-tier cities.

“The Indian woman, who is more confident than ever before is indulging herself in lingerie to express her individuality. She wants to look and feel good and has the economic independence to splurge on lingerie she never had access to before. Zivame is the catalyst of this change; using technology to understand her better and providing her an unsurpassed lingerie experience,” Richa says.

Her startup today announced its series C round of funding of US$40 million from Zodius Technology Fund and Khazanah Nasional Berhad, the investment fund of the Government of Malaysia.

Because close to 60 percent of Zivame’s traffic comes from mobile, the company today launched a lingerie app on Android as well. “We want to empower women to shop for their most intimate wear in the most intimate environment – their mobiles,” says Richa. She is an alumnus of prestigious Birla Institute of Technology (BITS), Pilani.

Zivame plans to use the fresh funds to get more women to shop online, boost its product list, and strengthen its tech muscle.

Mumbai-based Pretty Secrets, launched last year, is a direct competitor of Zivame. But competition also looms large from horizontal players like Flipkart-owned Myntra, Snapdeal, and Amazon, which are moving aggressively into fashion ecommerce, including lingerie. Zivame will therefore be looking to using its big series C round of US$38 million to deepen its vertical differentiation. Zivame had raised around US$9 million in earlier rounds.

The investment in Zivame is the first into an Indian ecommerce venture by Khazanah of Malaysia, which so far has over US$1 billion in other Indian businesses. Chinta Bhagat, executive director of the fund, hinted that more such investments could follow.