Jaypore receives funding of 5 million dollars from Aavishkaar

Ethnic e-tailer Jaypore has raised 5 million dollars (over Rs 300 crores) from social venture capital firm Aavishkaar. The funds will be used for upgrading technology, team expansion and brand building. Puneet Chawla, CEO, Jaypore, says that there has been a multi-fold increase in demand from the audience and this has encouraged them to continue to expanding product offering including their own Jaypore private label.

Jaypore was founded in 2012 by Shilpa Sharma, an independent consultant for retail start-ups and former head of product development at FabIndia, and Chawla who was a former product manager of SherSingh.in. The start-up was initially backed by angel investor and former CEO of Network 18, Haresh Chawla when he invested Rs 3 crore. The website offers a range of ethnic apparel, accessories, jewellery, home textiles and art pieces. The collections are offered through a partnership with artisans, textile designers and independent artists. Jaypore is trying to give traditional craft a contemporary twist.

Jaypore is in direct competition with NDTV Ethnic Retail which is a subsidiary of the media group NDTV and runs the portals Indianroots and Craftsvilla Handicrafts. Craftsvilla is the online store for ethnic jewellery and apparel.