Fashion accessory startup Zouk keen on more offline stores, charts out FY24 growth blueprint
Mumbai, lifestyle and fashion accessory startup Zouk is looking at a strong offline strategy of opening more brand outlets «very quickly» to compliment its online presence, and is also keen on making inroads into overseas markets of the US and Canada. The brand, founded by IIM Ahmedabad batchmates and husband-wife duo Disha Singh and Pradeep Krishnakumar, had raised $3 million in fresh capital earlier this year, in a funding round led by Stellaris Venture Partners and participation from Sharrp Ventures, JJ Family Office, Deutsche Bank India CEO Dilip Khandelwal, Manoj Meena of Atomberg and Vineeta Singh, Kaushik Mukherjee of Sugar Cosmetics.
Zouk operates in the bags, wallets and footwear categories. Krishnakumar said the brand has been built in a capital-efficient manner and added there are no immediate plans to raise additional funds, although the startup will continue to be «opportunistic».
The current focus is to move ahead with the FY24 blueprint for growth, including more offline stores that would boost brand visibility. Zouk, which positions itself as a vegan brand dedicated to an ethical lifestyle, unveiled its first-ever physical retail space at Nexus Seawood in Navi Mumbai on Saturday.
Zouk plans to open a total of five exclusive brand outlets this year, «catering to the evolving needs of conscious consumers who value fashion-forward and responsible products». Zouk is also keen on adding more products to its existing categories for greater choice for customers.
«As a business, we have grown tremendously both on own D2C website...now about 60 per cent of our business still comes from our D2C site, which is our own website channel...and expanding on marketplaces. A lot of that will start playing out even more and
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