Kantala becomes first SL fashion brand to successfully achieve crowd funding target

Sri Lankan fashion accessory brand ‘Kantala’ recently launched its range of vegan fashion accessories internationally, via the crowd-funding platform IndieGoGo, catering to the fashionable yet conscious consumer. 

The campaign, which concluded on the 10August, raised the target goal of US$40,000 via pre-orders and backers and became the first successful crowd-funding campaign by a Sri Lankan fashion brand. 
Kantala’s collection includes colourful and functional totes and wallets. They are made with natural handwoven fibres from the re-growing hana plant (Agave Cantala), Fair Trade guaranteed handloom and Pinatex - a vegan pineapple fibre based leather alternative, making each Kantala product a sustainable substitute to animal based leather products. Kantala’s products are ‘PETA-Approved Vegan’, which ensures that no animals are harmed in the production process and is certified by the global organisation ‘People for Ethical Treatment of Animals’. 

Kantala co-founders, Vikum Rajapakse and Nadishan Shanthikumar aim to promote Sri Lanka’s traditional craft of weaving internationally and empower hardworking artisans. IndieGoGo, one of the most popular crowd-funding platforms for launching new products and ideas with 15 million monthly visitors was ideal to take the story beyond the shores of Sri Lanka. Commenting on the crowd-funding milestone, Nadishan Shanthikumar said, “We are delighted to have achieved our funding target which gives us confidence and motivation to continue our work. The funds will be utilized to drive Kantala’s international expansion, the purchase of a hana fibre cleaning machine, and to set up a weavers co-operative for the artisans”. 

Highlighting the significance of their campaign for the wider start-up community in Sri Lanka, Vikum Rajapakse said, “We want our success to become an inspiration for other Sri Lankan start-ups, within the fashion sector and outside of it, to seek new ways of raising funds that are outside of the traditional sources. In addition to the funds raised, crowd-funding also gives you a group of early adopters who become a key launch pad to promote your product and brand to new markets”.