Susmitha Lakkakula, Founder, CloudTailor, has been named as one of the ‘BW Retail World 40 under 40’ prestigious list by BW Businessworld.
She is a mother of two and a software engineer with 19 years of experience. She is the founder of CloudTailor, a fashion-tech company that offers personalised fashion and tailoring services for women.
Lakkakula, who holds a Masters’s in Software Engineering from BITS Pilani, an MSc. in Information Sciences, and a PGD Program in Management from IIM Kolkata, launched CloudTailor after giving birth to her child.
With her expertise in software engineering, she sought to digitize the workflow of tailoring, measurements, and fashion-designer interactions.
CloudTailor operates on a Phygital business model, which allows customers to access their services through various channels, including an app/website for digital orders, exclusive branded outlets for physical interactions, and partnerships with large format stores to provide tailoring services within the outlets.
Their Hub and Spoke business model allows them to cater to all orders seamlessly, having fulfilled over 40,000 orders in seven countries.
The startup has raised USD 1 million in a preseries A round and has partnered with Avantra by Reliance Trend Studios to take care of fabric fulfillment while they take care of designing and tailoring solutions.
Lakkakula’s marketing strategy includes increasing brand awareness through ATL, BTL, digital channels, and PR, expanding their footprint by opening exclusive branded outlets across the country as part of their Phygital strategy and forming strategic partnerships with fashion retail chains to provide a Shop-in-shop model.
She has experience in various domains, including TV serials production, information technology, and fashion tech over the last six years, which has helped her lead CloudTailor to grow at a rate of 15-20 per cent month-on-month.
As a female founder and entrepreneur, Lakkakula’s achievements are surely an inspiration to young female entrepreneurs.
