Powered by

Home Startup Stories

This husband-wife duo is bringing a seismic change in the Indian Watches & Jewellery space. A mere Rs. 2L investment has compounded and turned into annual revenue of Rs 20 crore.

By Asif Alam
New Update
This husband-wife duo is bringing a seismic change in the Indian Watches & Jewellery space. A mere Rs. 2L investment has compounded and turned into annual revenue of Rs 20 crore.
publive-image

This is the spectacular story of India’s most loved Watch &Jewellery Brand- Joker & Witch

This is the story of a brand that has pushed its boundaries to make a niche for itself in the Indian  Watch & Jewellery space. They strive to provide irresistible value to their customers by ensuring that every product is in vogue, priced aptly and delivered to their doorstep. They intend to change the perception of Watches being a mere gadget to it being a versatile & fashionable accessory and are on a mission to build a ‘House of Brands’.

The Problem Statement

Accessorizing has always been a very important part of fashion. Belts, bags, shoes and jewellery add incredible value to a person’s look apart from helping underline individualistic style. As Indian consumers and their fashion sensitivities evolve, the demand for accessories has gone into boom mode.

No longer just a category to complement apparel, accessories have now gone mainstream, shaping the journey of the consumer across the social strata. Consumers are willing to experiment and try out new and refreshing options.

However, there is still a major gap in the fast-fashion accessory world. No Indian brand is offering uber-cool watches and accessories at affordable prices. There is a clear absence of a fast-fashion, affordable & aspirational watch brand in the country.

Joker & Witch is striving to fill this gap in a fairly unique way, that is by having watched as their core proposition, Jewellery as a complementary offering and by creating pre-styled Watch & Jewellery combinations that work well for gifting.

The Genesis

It all started in 2015 when Satish Singh and Maya Varma met each other, fell in love and jokingly started calling themselves Joker & Witch based on their individual alter egos. A happy go lucky restless soul from a small town in India, Satish always dreamt of owning his watch brand one day. Maya, the quieter and calmer one with a “do not mess with me” attitude and an Accessory designer by profession, always knew Jewelry was her forte.

Thus, when Joker & Witch finally met, their passion for Watches & Jewelry also came together and there was no looking back. They quit their job, got married and set off on their dream entrepreneurial journey.

Joker & Witch?

publive-image

JOKER AND WITCH is a New-Age Watch &Jewelry brand for millennials & Gen Z, offering minimal, unique and trend-setting global styles at affordable prices. Satish & Maya believe that accessories have the power to transform both one’s outfit and one’s outlook. Having found exceptional product/market fit, they are in the midst of transitioning from 'start-up' to ‘scale-up mode.

The Vision

Their vision is to create a ‘House of Profitable Brands’ in the Fashion & accessories space which creates exceptional value to its customers, employees & shareholders.

Their first brand  Joker & Witch intends to become a Cult Watch &Jewellery brand by 2025. While their second brandTeejhfocuses on working with Indian craftsmen & creating India inspired jewellery & sarees that the modern Indian woman can relate to.

They aspire to create and grow distinctive brands in verticals such as pets, fragrance and wellness, food & experience and also start a non-profit foundation aiming to address some of the concerning issues in society.

The Team

What started with just two people working (Satish & Maya) out of their home, are today a team of 35 dedicated go-getters working out of their headquarter in Bangalore. In 2018 they were only a 5 member team and today are on a hiring spree where they are actively looking for new talent.

Their objective is to create a large corporation yet not lose the essence of a close-knit family.

Despite having a fast-paced start-up environment, they believe in putting people before products & profit and hence have been able to maintain a retention rate of 95%. 

The CSR bit by ‘House of Brands’

publive-image

Like any other brand in today’s world, Joker & Witch also understands the importance of giving back to the planet & society. Even though products such as jewellery and watches are metal-based and can be reused they still are a part of the fast-fashion world that contributes to a chunk of environmental issues. Hence the brand intends to not just focus on one aspect of sustainability, but focus on giving back to the stakeholders of the company which includes their people, their partners, communities and the planet. They intend to work towards Corporate Sustainability focusing on environmental factors while actually earning. Taking one step forward towards the goal of sustainable development, they follow the triple bottom line approach, a theory that recommends the companies to focus on profit, people and planet instead of focusing on just one bottom line.

publive-image

They believe in ensuring job security, equal pay and a positive work environment for their people and building strong long term relations with their carefully selected partners who align with their values. They use only cardboard and paper in all their packaging and are on the verge of completely cutting down their usage of plastic. They are also in talks with a number of NGOs to contribute towards social causes they feel passionate about.

The Social Media Strategy & Community

The best part about their social media strategy is that it is not outsourced and all of it is done in-house which gives a level of control as well as an inherited nature of genuineness.

They work with only selective social media influencers who have similar aesthetics & fan-following over massy Instagram followers. They are also actively collaborating with like-minded brands who have complementing offerings and are planning to explore the world of YouTube next.

As of today, they are a community of over 100K fashion lovers and enthusiasts whose belief, enthusiasm and creativity constantly raise the bar and keeps the aura of motivation intact.