Voylla.com raises fresh USD 15 mn, to open 100 offline stores

Jaipur-based online fashion jewellery retailer Voylla.com has raised USD15 million in fresh funds from Peepul Capital. The company will use the funds in enhancing its technology, brand building, enhancement of manufacturing capacity, and for offline expansion.
Surya Mantha, investment director of Peepul Capital, will join the board of the company.
Voylla, which was founded in 2011, sells jewellery and accessories for men, women and kids on its own portal as well as with over 30 online marketplaces, 25 in India, including Flipkart and Snapdeal and the rest in the US, the UK, Singapore and Middle East. Besides this, it also has three shop-in-shop stores in the country.
With the fresh funds, the e-tailer plans to expand its physical store network to 100 outlets. It will set up 40 exclusive stores across the country while the rest would consist of shop-in-shop and franchise outlets. The shops would be set up in high streets and malls.
 
Also read: Jewellery e-tailer Voylla.com embraces omnichannel route
 
Vishwas Shringi, Founder and CEO of Voylla, stated, “We are excited about the partnership with Peepul Capital and confident that the capital infusion will help us establish Voylla as a Market Leader in the Fashion Jewellery market. With strong product focus and expansion of distribution reach, we expect significant growth this year.”
In an previous interview with Indiaretailing, Jagriti Shringi, Co-founder and COO, Voylla, divulged that the portal has grown by 400% year-on-year and the number of visitors have increased by 30%. However, she noted that consumers still like to touch and feel jewellery products before buying. “While the online channel is working very well, its contribution is a mere two per cent while the rest is from offline sales. Though this is an era of omnichannel retail, the offline channel cannot be ignored by any brand,” she had said then.
Before this round, the company had raised close to USD1.9 million (INR 13 Cr) from Pune-based Snow Leopard Technology Ventures and undisclosed angel investors.
Voylla.com reported revenues of Rs 6 crore in the last financial year. Around 70 per cent of its revenue is derived from jewellery while accessories account for the remaining. The average order ticket at Voylla is Rs 1,100.
The fashion jewellery market in India is highly fragmented and the market size is estimated at USD 2.4 billion. The growth rate for fashion jewellery is forecast to be higher than that of precious jewellery at 22% CAGR for the next three years.