Craftsvilla - Ethnic Junction with Artistic Products of Top-Notch Quality!

Craftsvilla - Ethnic Junction with Artistic Products of Top-Notch Quality!

The Indian handicrafts sector provides livelihoods to millions of people around the country, especially women. However, linking small-scale rural producers to urban and global markets has been a challenge. Efficiently connecting buyers and sellers in the handicrafts and handmade clothing market could have an exponential impact by improving the incomes of the poor and help preserve crafts that are rapidly disappearing. CraftsVilla.com is aiming to do exactly that, using the power of the Internet.

In a world full of trends, being a classic is what Craftsvilla is all about. Selling ethnic apparel and accessories on its online portal since 2011, Craftsvilla was launched by Manoj Gupta and Monica Gupta.

Craftsvilla - Company Highlights

Startup Name Craftsvilla
Headquarter Mumbai, India
Sector E-Commerce
Founders Manoj Gupta, Monica Gupta
Founded 2011
Parent Organization Craftsvilla Handicrafts Pvt Limited
Website craftsvilla.com
Contact customercare@craftsvilla.com

Craftsvilla - About and How it Works
Craftsvilla - Products and Services
Craftsvilla - Founders and Team
How was Craftsvilla Started?
Craftsvilla - Business Model and Reveue Model
Craftsvilla - Funding and Investors
Craftsvilla - Startup Challenges
Craftsvilla - Name, Tagline and Logo
Craftsvilla - Competitors
Craftsvilla - Growth
Craftsvilla - Revenue
Craftsvilla - Acquisitions
Craftsvilla - Future Plans
Craftsvilla - Partners
Craftsvilla - FAQs

Craftsvilla - About and How it Works

Craftsvilla is essentially an e-commerce portal based out of India that mainly sells ethnic items for women like ethnic apparel, ethnic footwear, ethnic fashion accessories, ethnic handcrafted home accessories, and ethnic fashion and lifestyle products along with other parallel industry products like beauty products.

Founded in 2011 by Monica & Manoj Gupta, Craftsvilla is an online marketplace for unique handmade, handcrafted, organic, and gift items. The startup claims to have over 25,000 sellers on its platform, selling close to 3.5 Million products.

The platform aggregates artisans, designers, and retailers from all around the country on a single platform and directly connects local artisans and designers to global customers over the world. Also, this startup over all these years has launched several in-house brands namely Anuswara, Avanya, and Jharokha, all in the affordable and classy ethnic and handloom segment.


Craftsvilla - Products and Services

Craftsvilla ship globally and it’s free for goods worth more than $250. The startup claims to have over 25,000 artisans and designers selling over 4 million products. The products are categorized into different segments like Jewellery, Handbags, Home Décor, Clothing, Food & Health, and Footwear etc., each further divided into sub segments.

About 80% of the buyers are women. The push has been to revive handicrafts and make it conveniently accessible. They try to keep things colorful and lively and that attracts the 18-35 age group buyers. More than 50% of the orders come from Tier 2 cities. And as it is with e-commerce portals in India, 50% of sales are Cash On Delivery (COD).


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Here are some examples of what you can expect on Craftsvilla:

  1. The collection of Gowns is an ode to fusion friendly fashion and perfect for all sorts of occasions.
  2. Their drape collection is quite enviable as it includes a plethora of styles including, Printed, Traditional, Designer Sarees and fabrics like Cotton, Satin, Art Silk and Georgette Saree.
  3. They have new and novel collection of Kurtis full of embellished styles, embroidered kinds and hues of every kind.
  4. There are times when you need an ethnic ensemble that is not only trendy but also timeless in terms of style, splendour and a perfect fit for that special occasion. That’s where their latest range of Lehengas comes in! From Net Lehenga Cholis to hip and happening co-ordinate Designer Lehenga Sets, Craftsvilla have it all!
  5. Complete with traditional kinds like Silver, Golden Plated and Oxidised, their collections of Earrings and neckpieces have something for everyone, right from statement making to subtlety sensational ones.

Craftsvilla - Founders and Team

The founders of Craftsvilla are Manoj Gupta and Monica Gupta.

Monica Gupta and Manoj Gupta are founders of Craftsvilla
Monica Gupta and Manoj Gupta
  • Manoj Gupta, Founder and CEO - He is an IIM graduate and a venture capitalist, founded Dreams Early Stage Fund and was Board Observer at Snapdeal before launching Craftsvilla. Prior to Craftsvilla.com, Manoj was Principal at Nexus Venture Partners where he invested in ecommerce companies in India. Manoj has also started a Tech company in San Diego, US from 2001-2006.
  • Monica Gupta, Founder and COO - She is graduated from San Diego State University.

How was Craftsvilla Started?

The idea for Craftsvilla struck the couple during their visit to Kutch, the hub of ethnic apparel and accessories. They saw supply in abundance with no channelized demand segregation and a portal that could connect the suppliers and the buyers not just in India, but globally. This is exactly how Craftsvilla was born.

Following this, the company was launched by Manoj Gupta and Monica Gupta in 2011 with funding from Nexus Venture Partners and Lightspeed Venture Partners. Initially, this ethnic-focused startup was incepted with 80 employees and 5 offices across the country.

But it so happened that by 2012, this venture completely exhausted the entire amount of INR 10 crore series-A funding. And due to this, the company had to downsize to an only 10-member team and carried their business operations in a small one-room office.

With the downsizing coming too early for Craftsvilla, if it was anybody other than Manoj Gupta, they’d have easily given up. But not the Craftsvilla founder. He kept faith in himself, in his idea, and his passionate team of 8. And in just a short span of 5 years, this ethnic fashion portal, Craftsvilla went from an allegedly failed startup to a big-named company with a huge valuation of $250 million with more than 4 million products in its inventory.

Craftsvilla - Business Model and Reveue Model

The business model of Craftsvilla majorly focuses on removing middlemen from the supply chain mechanism and increasing the livelihood of local artisans and cultured designers to help them create/promote their brand, with preserving the Indian culture, traditions, and values in a broader picture. In current times, the company charges a 20% commission on every transaction which excludes service tax.

Craftsvilla - Funding and Investors

Their latest funding was raised on Mar 20, 2020 from a Venture - Series Unknown round.

Here is a list of all the funding rounds of Craftsvilla:

Date Stage Amount Investor
October 2011 Venture Round - -
June 2012 Series A $1.5 million Lightspeed Venture Partners, Nexus Venture Partners
April 2015 Series B $19 million Sequoia Capital India
November 2015 Series C $34 million Lightspeed Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital India
February 2019 Venture Round ₹40M Supera
March 2019 Venture Round ₹30M Supera
April 2019 Venture Round ₹170M Supera
May 2019 Venture Round $34M Supera
March 2020 Venture Round ₹294M Supera

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Craftsvilla - Startup Challenges

Normally, entrepreneurs face challenges after the inceptions of their startups. This was not the case with Manoj Gupta. He faced the most crucial challenges right before launching Craftsvilla. It so happened that when Manoj presented his idea of launching an online portal that would sell ethnic stuff to his friends and family, he, unfortunately, received a lot of unenthusiastic feedback relating to it.

Most of his acquaintances pointed out that there is no real market for ethnic fashion wear and there clearly hasn’t been a successful replica of it in the industry across the globe. But Manoj was firm on his idea and despite negative response, Manoj believed in his entrepreneurial idea and the potential that he saw in the untapped market filled with opportunities. Later in the same year, he went ahead and launched Craftsvilla with his wife.

Craftsvilla has a tagline. “The Marketplace to discover India”. This tagline goes perfectly with the site, because it has huge range of Indian products & almost all the products are made keeping in mind the Indian craft & culture.

Craftsvilla Logo

Craftsvilla - Competitors

There are a lot of e-commerce portals in the country that deal with ethnic fashion and lifestyle products combined with other western and beauty products. Hence Craftsvilla competes with big and small online marketplaces like Myntra, LimeRoad, Voonik, Amazon, Flipkart, and Fabindia among many others.


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Craftsvilla - Growth

  • Craftsvilla has more than 62 outlets in total across India in cities such as Pune, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Kochi, Kolhapur, Coimbatore, Delhi, Chandigarh, and Varanasi.
  • This ethnic fashion and lifestyle online marketplace is pegged at around $300–500 million in size.
  • It claims to have over 25,000 artisans and designers on board.
  • Craftsvilla currently is selling over 4 million products.

Craftsvilla - Revenue

In FY18, Craftsvilla’s revenues spiked by 3.6% from Rs 30.35 crore in FY17 to Rs 31.45 crore.  The expenses from Rs 116.33 crore to Rs 59.13 crore. Losses followed the pattern and decreased from Rs 85.98 crore to Rs 27.68 crore.

Craftsvilla - Acquisitions

Craftsvilla acquired 3 organisations - F2SO4, Place Of Origin and Sendd.

Acquired Date Amount
Sendd January 2016 $4.5 Million
Place of Origin February 2016 -
F2SO4 April 2016 -

Place of Origin is an online retailer of ethnic food curated from sellers around the country. The online platform currently offers a range of products, from sweets and confectionary to local snacks and health food sourced directly from sellers across several cities.

Chandigarh-based F2SO4 was founded in 2015 by Delhi-based IIT alumni, Amrit Singh and Sachin Goel along with Partik Bhuchar. The startup was an app-based venture that offered branded and high-end designer clothes on rent. The startup was earlier bootstrapped and was founded as an apparel-as-a-service platform.


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Craftsvilla - Future Plans

For the future goals, Craftsvilla is aiming straight on pushing its offline foray. For the same, the venture is also planning to invest INR 100 crore to open more than 1,000 outlets in the coming years.

Craftsvilla - Partners

Craftsvilla has tied up with the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, for e-marketing of handloom products from small weavers. As per this agreement, Craftsvilla has tied up with Weavesmart, an online marketplace that offers handloom weaves from across India.

Craftsvilla - FAQs

Who is Monica Gupta?

The founders of Craftsvilla are Manoj Gupta and Monica Gupta.

What is Craftsvilla?

Craftsvilla is essentially an e-commerce portal based out of India that mainly sells ethnic items for women like ethnic apparel, ethnic footwear, ethnic fashion accessories, ethnic handcrafted home accessories, and ethnic fashion and lifestyle products along with other parallel industry products like beauty products.

What is the Tagline of Craftsvilla?

"MarketPlace to Discover India"

What is the Business Model of Craftsvilla?

The business model of Craftsvilla majorly focuses on removing middlemen from the supply chain mechanism and increasing the livelihood of local artisans and cultured designers to help them create/promote their brand, with preserving the Indian culture, traditions, and values in a broader picture.


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