While lingerie brands like Victoria’s Secret and Marks & Spencer are some of the leading companies of the world, India’s home-grown brand Zivame has garnered more popularity in the country than any other brand, all thanks to its founder Richa Kar.
Richa Kar, a woman from Jamshedpur, always had an entrepreneurial streak within her. Hailing from a traditional family in Jharkhand, staring a lingerie brand and turning it into a multi-million dollar enterprise was not an easy task.
An engineering graduate from BITS Pilani, Richa Kar decided to expand her knowledge of retail by studying in Narsee Monjee School of Management. She started working for Victoria’s Secret, and the idea of starting a lingerie brand seemed more appealing to her.
Richa’s family was already weary of her decision to pursue entrepreneurship, her father and relatives were not backing her decision to open a lingerie. Despite her family opposing her career, Kar decided to move ahead with the idea of opening Zivame.
Zivame started as a small innerwear company and slowly grew to become India’s largest lingerie brand in the current scenario. In the 2020 fundraising round, Zivame had a valuation of USD 200 million, which is over Rs 1600 crore.
Soon after Zivame took off, it caught the eye of Ratan Tata, the former chairman of Tata Sons and one of the biggest businessmen in India. Tata was one of the initial investors in the lingerie brand in 2015, taking the firm to a multi-million dollar level.
When Zivame had crossed Rs 700 crore benchmark in valuation, billionaire Mukesh Ambani and his daughter Isha Ambani decided to acquire the lingerie firm into Reliance Retail. Through the success of her company, Richa Kar now has a total net worth of Rs 750 crore.
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