Monrow Shoes and Accessories aspires to become a market leader of the fashion plus comfort category by 2025. With a passion and love for heels, Veena Ashiya decided to pursue her long-cherished dream of having her own brand and founded Monrow Shoes and Accessories in the year 2017. A NIFT alumnus who worked in the fashion and lifestyle industry for over 15 years, took quite some time to reach desired goals as it was uncharted territory for her.
In a significant development, Monrow Shoes and Accessories, a homegrown women’s footwear brand has secured its first round of super booster funding of $1 million from marquee investors like 9unicorns, Loom ventures, Chand brothers, a bunch of angels like Aprameya, Archana, Shweta Rao in 2021.
Founder and Chief Energy Officer Ashiya, a lady with a dual-edge of strong business acumen and creativity, evolved Monrow as a Data + Design-driven brand.
“I liked being presentable every time I stepped out, and no matter how far I would travel I would wear heels and travel through metros, subways, walk miles, and had a perception that heels cannot ever be comfortable,” Monrow’s Ashiya opens up.
The brand’s tagline ‘boldly comfortable’ says it all. Fashion + Comfort is its biggest USP along with being a sustainable brand. The business model is omnichannel -- digital and retail. The brand stands strong with its retail partnership across 30 key retail partners in India like Shoppers Stop, Central, along with online partners like Myntra, Nykaa, Ajio, Amazon, Flipkart etc.
She has faced many challenges being a woman entrepreneur, preconceived notions of what women are good at and the misconception of becoming a solo founder. Monrow’s Ashiya always wanted to break these biases.
Its expansion in tier-2 cities has worked very well and the current customer retention stands at 30 per cent and is heading towards 50 per cent this year.
Monrow Shoes and Accessories will be utilising the freshly infused funds to increase its market presence, expand its product portfolio, build the Monrow tribe, and strengthen its commitment to offering a world-class experience for customers through its shoes and accessories.