Zodius capital, a tech-oriented investment firm has elevated its stake in Zivame, which is a lingerie retailer by purchasing shares of the early backers of the lingerie startup named Kalaari Capital and IDG Ventures that invested in Zivame in early 2012.
According to the reports, the funding agency now controls almost 45% in Zivame. It now has three of the six board seats in Zivame though it has not filled any of the two additional seats. However, the valuation of the stakes sold by Kalaari and IDG Ventures could not be determined.
When Zivame last raised capital in September 2015, from Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah and Zodius Capital, it was valued at over $100 million. Other shareholders in the company so far are Unilazer Ventures, IDG Ventures India, Kalaari Capital, Ratan Tata, Zodius Technology Fund, and Malaysia’s Khazanah Nasional Bhd. And among these Unilazer Ventures which is an investment firm of media czar Ronnie Screwvala, is expected to remain invested.
The famous lingerie brand has established 26 stores over the last 12-18 months and now it is all set to increase the count to 100 stores during FY 19. In this regard, it has estimated an investment of Rs 30-40 crore. Zodius Capital’s Shilpa Kulkarni, who sits on the board of Zivame confirmed the event. Also, the new CEO Amisha Jain took over Shaleen Sinha who was concerned with controlling the daily operations after Richa Kar, founder and the then CEO of Zivame resigned because of internal conflicts with investors.
However, with the new approach, Zivame stated that the conversion rate at the store is two times more than the online sales with an average order value at least 1.2 times higher.
A familiar source stated, “The company is now at single-digit negative EBITDA and has given investors a target of December for break-even.”
With the company’s aim to expand its offline presence and Zodius increasing its stake in Zivame, the startup seems to be ready for an all-new phase of development.