D2C kids furniture start-up, ikooji, has raised seed funding from entrepreneur Aakanksha Bhargava, CEO of PM Relocations. Aakanksha will be joining ikooji, an e-commerce start-up and one-stop-shop for kids’ furniture company as Director and Advisor. With the expertise of stalwarts in the furniture manufacturing industry and a strong team of founders, Aakanksha is a valuable addition to the team of ikooji, which has become India's favorite kids' furniture brand in less than a year of operations.
This makes for the right time for Aakanksha to drive the company’s growth. Highly experienced in already managing a logistics firm, she brings to the table decades of experience in the field of marketing, scaling, and streamlining business. After establishing PMR, she is also now looking to bring a brand transformation at ikooji. With ikooji, she will lead and monitor public relations, marketing, branding of the organisation, overall logistics, creating strategies for the acceleration of the company’s growth, and driving customized solutions to mothers for the dream room for their kids. She will be looking into design customization, increasing footprint, and business development.
Ikooji was founded by Karan Singh & Manuraj Singh in 2020 during the first wave of covid19. Realizing a potential gap in the furniture market specifically for children’s products, these two friends for over 15 years took the ultimate leap of faith and decided to do something in this segment. In less than 1 year of operations, they have done revenue worth 1cr. The production is being led by Dipvinder Singh, who has over three decades of experience in furniture manufacturing.
ikooji comes from the Japanese word Ikuji which means childcare. The mission of the organization is to provide the best childcare through quality, sustainable furniture for children. And there cannot be a better time for onboarding Aakanksha. Being a mother herself, she is the apt person who can understand the sensibilities of raising a child in a healthy and safe environment. She has a very strong understanding and passion for building and creating what works for children and their parents. Kids furniture is an untouched market and it becomes an integral part of the learning and development of a child, especially more so with lockdown situations. Hence, she has taken this additional responsibility alongside managing PMR.
“This market has to be ventured into carefully with practical steps and having Aakanksha on board makes the task easier as she comes with a wholesome package. Apart from bringing to the table a diverse range of skill sets and decades of experience in the entrepreneurial world, she is also the right voice to drive our mission and help in the growth of ikooji”, said Karan Singh, Founder - iKooji.
Sharing her vision with the company, Aakanksha Bhargava shares, “Being a new mom, my heart has always felt strongly towards ensuring my child has the access to things which are both safe, vibrant, and functional with which my child will grow up. ikooji is a brand that is high in quality and their vision resonated with my life’s calling. Hence, I wanted to be a part of their journey and help them grow Multifoods given my experience in establishing brands.”
Giving kids' furniture a functional twist to the modern design, ikooji has products like cribs, cradles, study and craft tables, nursery chairs, Montessori storages and wall shelves, bunk beds, diaper changing stations, toys, nightstands, and more.
Source: http://bwdisrupt.businessworld.in/article/Aakanksha-Bhargava-Joins-ikOOji-A-Kids-Furniture-D2C-Start-up-/05-06-2021-392068/ https://www.indianweb2.com/2021/07/women-entrepreneur-aakanksha-bhargava.html https://theindiabizz.com/women-entrepreneur-aakanksha-bhargava-spreads-her-wings-with-ikooji/
