Voonik Scouts for More Acquisitions in the Fashion Space to Add New Features on Products

Voonik Technologies Pvt Ltd, which owns and operates eCommerce platform Voonik, is scouting for more acquisitions in the fashion domain and usually completes a deal within two weeks. The company will make the acquisition from a $20-million Series B fundraise led by existing investor Sequoia Capital in June 2016. While the round saw participation from repeat investor Seedfund, it also attracted new backers including Japanese eCommerce operator Beenos, Singapore-based venture capital fund Beenext, Tancom Investments and Times Internet.

The firm is looking at the acquisition route to add new features or products. Recently, it launched two other fashion platforms, Mr Voonik, an exclusive app for men’s fashion and Vilara, a marketplace for designers and boutiques.

Bangalore-based Voonik is strengthening its leadership in the unbranded fashion segment largely via acqui-hires or team acquisitions of startups in niche fashion offerings. In the last six months, it acqui-hired four startups including Zohraa, an online marketplace for designers and boutiques; online silk store Picksilk.com; Styl, which connects stylists and salons with consumers; and Getsty, a curator of personalised fashion for men. Last year, Voonik acqui-hired virtual dressing room app TrialKart.

The company claims to have 10 million app downloads, more than 12 million registered users, 100 million annual gross merchandise value (GMV) and 13 million revenue rate, reported DealStreetAsia.

Voonik has over 10,000 sellers on its platform and consists of 500 employees in its team including 250 people in its core-team and another 250 are in customer support and backend functions.

Other player which operating in the same space include fashion platform Roposo, secured $5 million in the second part of Series B round from Bertelsmann India Investments (BII). The company had raised $15 million from Tiger Global in the first tranche.

According to a study by IAMAI, Sales of apparel and footwear segments have risen by 52 per cent to Rs 7,142 crore in December 2015 from Rs 4,699 crore in December 2014. The category is expected to reach Rs 72,639 crore by end of 2016.

Talking about competition in the fashion space, Voonik co-founder and CEO Sujayath Ali said, “other sites like Myntra and Jabong are focused on branded space. We offer unbranded stuff where we don’t have much competition.”

Silvan Raises $900K Funding From Infuse Ventures and Voonik Gets $20M from Sequoia, Beenos, Others

Home automation startup, Silvan Innovation Labs has raised about $900K (Rs. 6 Cr) in equity funding while fashion app Voonik has raised $20 million (Rs. 133 crore) in a Series B round of funding led by existing investor Sequoia Capital.

Home Automation Startup Silvan Raises Funding From Infuse Ventures

Bangalore-based home automation startup, Silvan Innovation Labs, has raised about $900K (Rs. 6 Cr) in equity funding from Infuse Ventures, for marketing and creating new home automation products in select segments, such as energy management.

Founded in 2008, Avinash Gautam, Giri Krishna, Nandakumar Raghavan and Mohan G., Silvan has completed over 2000 fully automated homes, and is automating about 40 Real Estate projects. It provides technology-enabled security and entertainment options across residential, hospitality & commercial sectors.

Silvan consumer products can be bought within price range of Rs. 12,500 to Rs. 20,000; Fully integrated project series solutions can be bought for price between Rs. 1 Lakh to Rs. 5 Lakh depending upon the complexity of system and size of the house.

In January 2016, Silvan Innovation Labs raised about $500K (Rs. 3.5 crore) in a funding round from The Chennai Angels.

Voonik Raises $20M in Series B Round From Sequoia, Beenos And Others

Bangalore-based fashion app Voonik has raised $20 million (Rs. 133 crore) in a Series B round of funding led by existing investor Sequoia Capital with participation from Japanese eCommerce operator Beenos, Singapore-based venture capital fund Beenext, Tancom Investments, and Times Internet, Parkwood Bespin, Seedfund and Kunal Shah.

The newly raised funding will be used towards strengthening all three product categories on its platform, which includes premium products category Vilara, menswear offering Mr. Voonik, and its core women-focused vertical Voonik.

Launched in August 2014 by Sujayath Ali and Navaneetha Krishnan, Voonik is a personal shopping app for women, with 8 million app downloads, 10 million registered users, $100 million Annual GMV and $13 million annual revenue  rate.

In June last year, Voonik raised $5 million in a series A round of funding led by Seedfund and Sequoia. Prior to this, the startup had also raised $390K (Rs. 2.5 crore) from Seedfund.

Image Source: ShutterStock

Voonik Launches Vilara - Acqui-hires Zohraa, Styl and Picksilk.com

Voonik, Indian fashion marketplace, forays into the premium eCommerce segment with the launch of Vilara.com. It acqui-hired Zohraa a market place for designers and boutiques to create Vilara. Further acqui-hired Styl and Picksilk to strengthen its core offerings in technology and product.

Voonik’s core app is focused on everyday women with 8 million app downloads, 10 million registered users and highest engagement among shopping apps. In contrast, Vilara will be a one-stop place to shop from thousands of premium boutiques and independent designers.

Sujayath Ali, CEO Voonik says “We are very excited about Vilara and the idea of bringing over 1000 boutiques in one place. We have been able to acqui-hire a talented bunch of entrepreneurs, with the right expertise to help us strengthen the Vilara offering.

By acqui-hiring Zohraa, we got access to a premium supplier network and a passionate team.

The founders Sanjeev Jain, Pramod Rathi, Vibhor Tikiya and Darshit Hirani have a rich experience of creating a premium marketplace.

With Picksilk on board, we now have access to a highly coveted silk weaver community.

Styl is a technologically advanced salon and spa booking App. Styl team gave the immediate impetus to the Vilara App development. We got to market with both web and app within a record time”.

With these acquisitions, the company has got a significant advantage in penetrating the segment of premium consumers who are willing to pay for high quality, unique lifestyle products. Vilara will cater to both fashion as well as home categories.

Vibhor Tikiya, CXO, Zohraa says- “We are passionate about the premium ecommerce segment. With the scale up experience of Voonik, Vilara is all set to become the shopping destination for premium products within a short time”. “We wanted to build a premium marketplace with Zohraa at scale, Vilara is the perfect platform to do so” says Sanjeev Jain, CEO, Zohraa.

Shiv Kancharla, CEO Picksilk says – “We built a company to connect under represented and technologically backward, handloom sector to a huge base of women who love silk sarees. Joining Vilara will help us in fulfilling our dream of bringing joy to every woman through a pure silk saree”.

Anup Mohan CEO, Styl says –“We are inspired by Sujayath’s vision to use technology to build the largest fashion marketplace. Vilara, is the perfect blend of technology and curated fashion”.

Voonik has been the fastest growing eCommerce company in India and has brought newer businesses into its fold with a singular vision of becoming the largest fashion company in the world. Besides these three acquisitions, Voonik also recently acqui-hired TrialKart, Getsy and a team from Klozee.

About Zohraa: Zohraa.com was founded in June, 2012 by IIM-Ahmedabad, Washington University and New York University graduates Sanjeev Jain (CEO), Pramod Rathi (COO), Vibhor Tikiya (CXO) and Darshit Hirani (CTO) respectively. The site, positioned as an online occasion-wear brand with a high emphasis on curation, sells ethnic wear and designer wear products.  Zohraa has a team of 12 members.

About Styl: Styl was founded as a platform to connect salons & stylists and consumers, through an app. Both the founder Anup Mohan and Srikant Ch were part of founding team of Lookup earlier. Styl has a team of 9 members.

Picksilk.com: Picksilk.com, Indian online silk store with 10,000+ handloom saree collection, was founded by two engineering college friends Shivakumar Kancharla and Hareesh Vemala The company’s mission is to empower weavers through technology and transform the industry by making it more demand oriented by mapping manufacturing to the actual customers’ choices rather than to the weavers’ convenience and resources. Picksilk has a team of 8 members.

Voonik Announces the Launch of Mr Voonik, a Fashion App Dedicated to Men’s Fashion

Voonik, India’s largest and fastest growing fashion marketplace, announced the launch of Mr Voonik, a fashion app dedicated to men’s fashion. Mr Voonik will not only offer a wide choice of men’s clothing and accessories, but will also save shopping time for men with the highly coveted personalisation services that are a rarity in this segment.

Mr Voonik comes with a highly advanced style recommendation engine, that promises to give a very relevant product selection to each consumer. Online stylists will help customers handpick the best clothes based on their body type, colour choice, budget and style preferences. With over 1 Lakh products available on Mr Voonik already, the fashion marketplace is set to grow exponentially with plans of adding 1000 more brands within a month of launch.

Voonik CEO and Co-Founder Sujayath Ali said, “When we started Voonik some three years ago, we had a clear vision of becoming the country’s largest fashion destination. With over 7 million app downloads and  9 million registered users, we are the among the fastest growing companies in the sector. But I feel this success is incomplete as we have not reached the other half of the fashion consumers, men. So here we are, launching a dedicated fashion platform for men. With the launch of Mr. Voonik, we are solving a big shopping problem for men. Now they will be able to see the clothes that suit their personality and buy without worrying about the price, and without having to spend a lot of time.”

For too long, fashion has been the preserve of a few and the real man was never part of that movement. Voonik changes that by:

• Giving men easy access to the largest collection of men’s fashion. From branded to unbranded clothing, formal to ethnic wear, shoes to sunglasses, Mr. Voonik will be an ideal shop for men.


• Showing men an insanely relevant shopping feed that saves shopping time, through an intelligent engine that understands their personality, tastes, lifestyle and budgets. So men shop from what suits them and buyer remorse is minimized!


• Everyday low prices across categories by connecting directly to the manufacturers. There is a plethora of choice at every price point.

Whether you are a college student looking for funky cotton t-shirts or a corporate honcho in search of a well-tailored formal suit, Mr. Voonik promises to cater to your every sartorial preference and will do so within your budget. If you still don’t believe it, ask the women around,  how much they love Voonik!

Voonik Announces the Launch of Mr Voonik, a Fashion App Dedicated to Men’s Fashion

Voonik, India’s largest and fastest growing fashion marketplace, announced the launch of Mr Voonik, a fashion app dedicated to men’s fashion. Mr Voonik will not only offer a wide choice of men’s clothing and accessories, but will also save shopping time for men with the highly coveted personalisation services that are a rarity in this segment.

Mr Voonik comes with a highly advanced style recommendation engine, that promises to give a very relevant product selection to each consumer. Online stylists will help customers handpick the best clothes based on their body type, colour choice, budget and style preferences. With over 1 Lakh products available on Mr Voonik already, the fashion marketplace is set to grow exponentially with plans of adding 1000 more brands within a month of launch.

Voonik CEO and Co-Founder Sujayath Ali said, “When we started Voonik some three years ago, we had a clear vision of becoming the country’s largest fashion destination. With over 7 million app downloads and  9 million registered users, we are the among the fastest growing companies in the sector. But I feel this success is incomplete as we have not reached the other half of the fashion consumers, men. So here we are, launching a dedicated fashion platform for men. With the launch of Mr. Voonik, we are solving a big shopping problem for men. Now they will be able to see the clothes that suit their personality and buy without worrying about the price, and without having to spend a lot of time.”

For too long, fashion has been the preserve of a few and the real man was never part of that movement. Voonik changes that by:

• Giving men easy access to the largest collection of men’s fashion. From branded to unbranded clothing, formal to ethnic wear, shoes to sunglasses, Mr. Voonik will be an ideal shop for men.


• Showing men an insanely relevant shopping feed that saves shopping time, through an intelligent engine that understands their personality, tastes, lifestyle and budgets. So men shop from what suits them and buyer remorse is minimized!


• Everyday low prices across categories by connecting directly to the manufacturers. There is a plethora of choice at every price point.

Whether you are a college student looking for funky cotton t-shirts or a corporate honcho in search of a well-tailored formal suit, Mr. Voonik promises to cater to your every sartorial preference and will do so within your budget. If you still don’t believe it, ask the women around,  how much they love Voonik!