In Startup50 2016: For building an e-commerce business which turned profitable in its very first year of operations and has been doubling in revenue annually, since then

Founders: Shilpa Sharma, Puneet Chawla

Jaypore.com was founded with a vision of presenting Indian, craft-based designs in contemporary applications, which would appeal to a domestic as well as global audience.

The platform showcases apparel, jewellery, art, home accents and personal care products, and each of these collections are from artisans and artisan collectives, self-help groups and new and established designers.

The Guiding Principles

Jaypore subscribes to the idea that the product has to be a ‘Zero Waste Design’, should be, in some way, contributing to reviving dying crafts and arts of India, use organic fabrics and dyes as long as it is financially viable, and showcase contemporary interpretations of traditional fabric, techniques and crafts.

The Way Ahead

With 172 employees currently on board, the brand has thus far raised Rs. 3.5 crore from Haresh Chawla, partner at India Value Fund and USD 5 million Aavishkar. It has almost doubled in revenues from Rs. 14 crore last financial year to Rs. 26 crore this year.

Jaypore has had a long association with WomenWeave, an organization (in Maheshwar, Madhya Pradesh) that trains young weavers and gives them lessons in entrepreneurship. In fact, the fabric produced by the students is blended with contemporary design and the collections are showcased on Jaypore.com. Weavers from each batch also undergo a 4-month internship at Jaypore’s headquarters in New Delhi, where they learn about operations, warehousing and design.

Jaypore provides entrepreneurial and design-related training to women Chikankari artisans from Lucknow, who are a part of the Sangraha Kala Foundation. Recently, Jaypore has also featured an exquisite handcrafted Chikankari collection on its website.