Koovs to raise 23 mn pounds in next few months

UK-based online fashion player Koovs plc is looking to raise about 22-23 million pounds this year to accelerate its growth plans and expand presence in the Indian e-commerce market.
Koovs, which sells affordable western fashion in India online, has already invested about 70 million pounds in the business.
"We will need up to GBP 50 million to fund our acceleration plan. This will be done in tranches. This year, we are looking at about GBP 22-23 million, which we expect to close in the new few months," Koovs Chairman Waheed Alli told PTI.
He added that a significant part of this investment will be devoted to marketing and branding that will be more content-led.

In November 2016, the company had raised 10.9 million pounds (about Rs 92 crore) from existing and new shareholders, including 3.9 million pounds from the Times of India Group. As on March 1, 2018, Koovs had cash balances of 3.5 million pounds and expects a monthly "outgoing" of about 7,50,000 pounds.
The company expects its sales in FY18 to be 14.5 million pounds.

Citing a report by Hardman & Co Research, Alli said the company has "all the ingredients are in place" and to exploit the opportunity, the company would need to raise a substantial amount of capital.
Talking about the Indian e-commerce market, Alli said the market presents a huge opportunity for companies.

"Demonetisation had hit the sector but now we believe growth is returning and presents a big opportunity," he said.
The apparel and lifestyle segment of the e-commerce market is growing at a significant pace. It not only has large players like Flipkart and Amazon competing head-on but also companies like Myntra and Jabong (part of Flipkart Group), AJio, Tata CliQ and others.