Private denim label Korra bags angel funding

Delhi-based online private label brand, Korra, has received a boost of 3,000,000 dollars (Rs 1.97 crore) in an angel funding round led by Asha Jadeja Motwani, Founder of Dot Edu Ventures and the Motwani Jadeja Foundation along with other undisclosed investors. Shyam Sukhramani, formerly with Levi Strauss & Co, joined with Himanshu Shani and Mia Morikawa, who run a sustainable clothing and accessory brand 11.11, and Rajesh Jaju to start the Good People Company in 2013. Together they launched brand ‘Korra’. The company also encourages buyers to use their denim more often by offering a care plan with free repair services. Each pair is assembled on order, so that it can be customised. Buyers residing in New Delhi can try the ordered pair at home.

Now, the company plans to hire talent to improve its customer service, technology and manufacturing capabilities, while seeking a funding boost of 25 million dollars (about Rs 162 crores) over the next five years.

Korra carries names of its tailors on the pair of jeans assembled by them. It is the only Indian denim brand that acknowledges hard work put in by its tailors. Korra has so far sold around 700 pairs through its website. The company recently partnered with online marketplaces Koovs and Myntra.

The brand is known for its support to the growing global movement against sweatshop manufacturing as well as its use of raw denim and organic cotton threads sourced from local producers. It has sold a fifth of its products to 13 countries outside India, including the US, France, UK and Italy.