E-tailer Koovs In Talks To Raise Funds

London-based Koovs plc, parent of the fashion discovery platform Koovs.com, is in talks to raise funding. The company did not disclose the amount of the deal.

Koovs plc is the wholesale supplier for all the fashion products for sale on Koovs.com which is operated by its India arm Koovs India.

Apart from this, Koovs plc will also increase its stake in Koovs India.

Currently, Koovs plc holds 57.5 per cent in the company which it will increase up to 90 per cent by issuance of fresh shares, the company’s CEO Mary Turner said.

The fresh funds will be used to increase the product range which currently stands at 2,000 items on Koovs.com and also to build brand awareness and develop content around fashion.

For the last two years, the company was working to strengthen its own private label Koovs to increase exclusivity of its products. Forty per cent of all the fashion apparels and accessories on the site are available only on Koovs.com, informs Turner.

The products are designed by an in-house team of designers based in London. Being in the fashion business, the company decided to set up its studio in London to have access to the latest fashion trends and global market, adds Turner.

Koovs works on an inventory-based model to have a control over quality of the products on its site, adds Turner. All the branded fashion products are curated by their in-house team before being uploaded.

Right now, Koovs has an user base of about half a million. To increase its market base, the company launched a multi-media brand campaign ‘Step into Koovs.com’ last week across the country.

Koovs.com was founded in 2010 by Rajesh Kamra, Kanishk Shukla, Amit Shukla and Manish Tewari as as a coupon and deal site. In 2010 end, it was acquired by Infotel Group. Led by them, Koovs.com was turned into an online fashion website in 2012.

That same year they roped in former chairman of online fashion portal ASOS plc, Lord Waheed Alli. In September 2012, Silvergate Retail (now Koovs plc), founded by Alli and retail industry executive Robert Bready, got associated with Koovs India and went public in London Stock Exchange’s AIM
for smaller companies.

Koovs competes with Gurgaon-based fashion portals for apparels and accessories Limeroad and Yepme.