Working with an aim to earn a name in the ever-competitive jewelry industry, Chinu Kala launched Rubans Accessories in 2014, after realizing the lack of new designs in the market. Started in a small area of 70 sq ft in Phoenix Mall, Bengaluru, the startup now has a turnover of more than Rs 65+ crore and 2000+ designs and is known as one of India’s most popular jewelry brands.
| Startup Name | Rubans Accessories |
| Founders | Chinu Kala |
| Industry | Fashion Jewelry |
| Company Classification | Private Limited |
| Headquarters/based-in | Bengaluru, Karnataka, India |
| Idea | To make affordable fashion jewelry accessible to all. |
| Revenue | FY 2022-23 Rs 65 crore |
| Date of Commencement | 2014 |
| Investments | 2014: Bootstrapped with Rs 3 lakh.
2023: Received an investment of Rs 1 crore for a 1% stake and an additional Rs 50 lakh at 12% interest from Shark Tank India investors Namita Thapar, Vineeta Singh, and Aman Gupta. |
| Number of Customers | More than 1 million, with a repeated customer rate of 30%. |
| Number of Employees | 15-20 local artisans from cities like Jaipur, Rajkot, Ahmedabad, and Kolkata |
Competitors: Bella, Toniq, and Voylla.
The Problem: Why Does This Matter?
Working odd jobs to earn a living, Chinu Kala started her entrepreneurial journey with Fonte Corporate Solutions.
Jewelry industry is full of eye-catching designs yet redundant designs. Yes, if you have noticed, you can find more or less similar designs in different jewelry brands. This is common in the market with the only difference of brand name and price.
Moreover, the jewelry worn by celebrities is often sought out by their fans. They end up buying an expensive replica of the same.
Realizing the huge gap in the market, Chinu Kala decided to try her hand in the jewelry industry to bring affordable and new designs of fashion jewelry.
The Solution: Rubans Accessories
Rubans Accessories was started by Chinu Kala in 2014. She decided to enter into this segment because being a model she got to know that it is a vast market and there are no unique designs in accessories to fulfill the demands.
The startup began its journey by providing new designs of accessories to its customers in malls counters. The uniqueness which they approached was to fulfill the demands of customers with the help of new designs where Rubans Accessories launches the new designs in every 15 to 20 days.
Business Model: How Do They Make Money?
Rubans Accessories extremely works on the base of B2C pattern. In the few starting years of the startup, all accessories were sold directly to customers but later they switched to an e-commerce platform to reach a wide number of customers.
E-commerce helped the company to sell its accessories not only in India but also in the US and UK. Nowadays, they release new designs every 15-20 days by keeping the customers and their demands as their first priority.
Challenges/Struggles: What Roadblocks Are They Facing?
The accessories and jewelry market is expanded so vast that there is not even space to put an elbow on the table. A number of brands and their products are always present in the market to challenge.
Ruban Accessories is attacking all its challenges very smartly where the founder Chinu Kala regularly visits the markets to catch sellers and many states to grab the changes in tastes and styles demanded in public.
Future Vision: What’s Next?
The demand and rapid changes in fashion styles and jewelry are always high. These changes always demand new and Ruban Accessories is working very hard for its customers because reaching out directly to customers to know their needs and demands regarding fashion and jewelry makes the startup unique in its segment. The vision of Rubans Accessories team for the year 2024 is to take sales up to Rs 150 crores.
Key Takeaways: Why Should Users Care?
It is always possible to achieve what we aim for. Our circumstances and difficult situations teaches us valuable lessons and we gain such experiences which cannot be earned while working for several years.
