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Zouk, the lifestyle startup, has managed to raise US $ 3 million in a series A round led by Stellaris Venture Partners. Participants in the round include JJ Family Office, Deutsche Bank India CEO Dilip Khandelwal, Vineeta Singh, Kaushik Mukherjee – founders, Sugar Cosmetics, Sharp Ventures and Manoj Meena of Atomberg.
Pradeep Krishnakumar, co-founder, Zouk, declined to share the valuation but said that the startup had grown 10X in size and has been capital efficient. Zouk had also earlier raised US $ 1.5 million in a pre-series A round.
Krishanakumar also said that investors looked at the company’s growth, brand awareness and customer acceptance along with the ethics of the founding team during the fundraiser.
These funds will be used by the company in the key areas of brand awareness, supply chain strengthening, increasing team size and expanding retail presence across India. The brand aims to focus on the omnichannel experience and open 5 exclusive brand outlets in the coming year, with the fundraising also factoring in an offline foray.
Zouk’s D2C website accounts for 65 per cent of its sales with the marketplaces and offline channels adding an additional layer of revenue for the company, according to the founders.
Krishnakumar also commented on the brand’s plans to enter international markets and said, “International foray is of great interest to us. But it will be via an online channel as it is a capital-efficient way.”
Sharing the strategy for online expansion, Disha Singh, co-founder of the company said that currently, the brand caters to all the pin codes. “3 years back, we were a metro heavy brand, but today the balance has shifted.” She claimed that the retailer has a healthy 50/50 contribution to metro and Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, noting that this is a good indicator of the huge scope in these markets.
Krishnakumar also added that the company will partner with regional content creators and do more regional media activity so its presence can deepen beyond metro cities. Also, to cater customers across geographies, Zouk will expand its presence across various marketplaces.
In terms of the team, Zouk plans to double its strength across the next 12 months, which will also have a ripple effect on its warehousing staff and artisans that the company works with.