Ikkivi to raise Rs 3 crore to deepen tech and global reach

Bengaluru-based Ikkivi Retail Services that brings together stories and products of young Indian designers, is looking at raising Rs 3 crore before the end of this financial year. It works with emerging designers across the countries, who believe in the borderless nature of cultures.

Bootstrapped by two friends — Nivi S Murthy and Nikhita Giridhar last September — Ikkivi has already made its presence felt in the fashion world by attracting young talent from different countries.

“Judging by our collections and the list of designers on our portal, designers from overseas — UK, South America — have started reaching out to us. Although we are yet to list them, this is an exciting new phase,” said Nivi.

 Speaking to Deccan Herald, she said, “We are not looking to ever go down the deep-discount route and will therefore be utilising the funds only to deepen our technology and global reach. Each dress, trouser, shirt, jacket, bag and piece of accessory has been designed not just to sell but also to create. In the end, we hope the customer will find a piece of clothing or embellishments that will make him/her feel at home wherever he/she goes.”

Sharing the use of digital media and a strong social presence in promoting the firm in the last seven months, Nikhita said, “Our web version is a one-stop destination for emerging fashion designers who are independent in their design and style, catering to the modern traditionalist. The genesis of the idea was to support young designers with smaller inventory requirements and assisted logistics whilst encouraging the growth of globally wearable culture, i.e. modern Indian silhouettes.”

She further said, “We now have an app in beta stage that has been developed to further support budding designers with real-time rated data by customers.

Designers can gather customer demographic and social data and use it to gauge their merchandising needs. We are scheduled to launch this in the next two months. We will run this for six months to get feedback from customers and fashion designers. The final app will be launched in the last quarter of this year.”Currently, the young firm has 35 designers live. All of them are emerging Indian designers, who want to showcase their skills, talent, creativity and designs. We will be taking this number to 100 by the end of March 2017. The company is adding new collections every week to attract customers on a regular basis.

Sharing her views on setting up a firm in India after studying and working in New York, Nikhita said, “India is a land steeped in tradition and extravagant handcraft— extravagance in effort and authenticity — and provide a common space for fashion designers both young and seasoned to dress the global individual. We believe in the nostalgia of loom and the ambition of experiences.”

Speaking about future plans, Nivi said, “At present, we have about 20,000 visitors per month on an average with minimal marketing. The conversion rate is about 2%. With the right matrix of revenue streams and global focus, we would rather go the cockroach way and aim for a conversion rate of 5% rather than the so-called industry average.”