The retail arm of billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries purchased an 89% equity stake in Purple Panda Fashions, which owns and operates Clovia, for $125 million.
Purple Panda Fashions’ flagship brand Clovia is a direct-to-consumer online retail innerwear and loungewear brand for women. Clovia offers over 3,500 product styles that have been purchased by over 3 million women, according to its website.
Based in Noida, India, Clovia was cofounded in 2012 by husband and wife Pankaj Vermani and Neha Kant, Abhay Batra, Soumya Kant and Suman Choudhary. The founding team and management will own the remaining stake in the company, according to a statement.
“Through this partnership, we will benefit from Reliance's scale and retail expertise, extending the presence of the brand and bring together stronger value proposition through world class quality, design and fashion in the intimate wear category,” Pankaj Vermani, Clovia’s founder and CEO, said in the statement.
Reliance Retail has been expanding its apparel and innerwear portfolio, it also acquired online intimate wear brands Zivame in 2020 and Amante in 2021.
In December 2020, Clovia raised $4 million in a pre-Series C funding round led by a clutch of investors including Golden Birch Investments and SheCapital Venture Fund, a Delhi-based early stage fund for female businesses.
