Veena Ashiya scanned 3,000 pairs of feet to build footwear that fits Indian women

Almost every woman in India has a story about shoes that hurt. Straps that cut, a width that pinches, an arch in the wrong place, heels that become unwearable after an hour. The usual explanation offered is that beautiful shoes are simply uncomfortable, which women are expected to accept as the price of the category.

The less discussed explanation is technical. Footwear is built on a last, the foot-shaped mould that determines a shoe's internal geometry, and much of the footwear sold in India is built on lasts derived from Western foot data. Indian feet differ in measurable ways, often broader across the forefoot and different in arch profile. A shoe built for a different foot shape will not fit well no matter how good the materials are.

Veena Ashiya approached this as a data problem. Working with orthopaedic specialists, Monrow Shoes scanned the feet of around 3,000 Indian women and designed footwear around what they found. The brand launched in 2016 and has since drawn Blume Ventures onto its cap table.

Turning down IIM Calcutta

Ashiya's first significant decision was to decline a path most Indian families would consider settled. She gave up on IIM Calcutta, among the most sought-after business schools in the country, to pursue fashion instead, taking a degree from the National Institute of Fashion Technology.

There was a second refusal alongside it. Her father, Sesh Kiran Ashiya, founded the perfume brand Moksh, so there was an established family business available to her. She did not join it, choosing to build something of her own rather than inherit a role in something that already worked.

Her working life before Monrow spanned both fashion and retail, including time associated with Versace and Tommy Hilfiger India, and an earlier venture of her own. Working inside international fashion houses is useful preparation in a specific way, since it shows how serious product companies handle design, materials and quality control, which is knowledge that transfers directly into building footwear.

The research that defined the product

The decision that separates Monrow from a fashion label with a shoe range is what came before the first collection. The company collaborated with orthopaedic specialists and scanned the feet of around 3,000 Indian women, then developed shoes designed for the structure those scans revealed.

This is unusual, and it is expensive. Scanning thousands of feet, working with clinicians and then developing proprietary lasts based on the findings is a large investment before a single pair is sold. Most new footwear brands select from a manufacturer's existing lasts and concentrate their effort on design and marketing, which is far faster and considerably cheaper.

What the harder route buys is a claim that is true and difficult to copy. A brand that says its shoes fit Indian feet better is making an assertion a customer can verify within an hour of wearing them, and if it holds, it produces the kind of loyalty that advertising cannot manufacture. Comfort is not a preference in footwear, it is a functional requirement, and a shoe that hurts does not get worn twice regardless of how it looks.

Building it with real capital and real conviction

Ashiya launched Monrow in 2016 after extensive research, with a reported investment of around 4 crore rupees. That is a substantial commitment for a first product launch and reflects what a physical-goods business genuinely requires, including tooling, inventory, quality control and the research that preceded it.

She has cited homegrown Indian apparel brands including W, BIBA and Anita Dongre as evidence that an Indian brand could win in a category dominated by international names. Those brands succeeded by understanding Indian bodies, occasions and preferences better than global competitors bothered to, which is precisely the argument Monrow makes about feet.

The company later raised an institutional round reported at around 3.5 crore rupees, and counts Blume Ventures, one of India's more established early-stage firms, among its investors. It has reported gross merchandise value in the region of 36 crore rupees, with growth of roughly ten times since 2019, and Ashiya was recognised in a YourStory listing of emerging women leaders for her work on more sustainable footwear.

Why footwear is a punishing business

It is worth being honest about the difficulty of the category. Footwear combines the worst inventory characteristics in retail. Every style must be stocked across a full size range, and a size that does not sell is dead stock that cannot be converted into anything else. Fashion risk sits on top of that, since a style that misses the season is written down.

Returns are the second problem. Selling shoes online means customers cannot try before buying, so return rates are structurally high, and each return carries shipping costs in both directions plus the risk that the product comes back unsellable.

This is where the fit research pays back commercially rather than only reputationally. A brand whose shoes genuinely fit Indian feet should see fewer returns for discomfort and more repeat purchases from customers who have learned their size in that brand. In a category where returns and dead inventory decide profitability, better fit is not a marketing message. It is an operating advantage.

Veena Ashiya’s net worth and ownership

There is no verified public net-worth figure for Veena Ashiya. Monrow Shoes is a private company that has not disclosed the valuation attached to its funding, and her shareholding after taking institutional investment is not on the public record.

The figures that are reported describe the business rather than the founder, an initial investment of around 4 crore rupees, an institutional round of roughly 3.5 crore rupees with Blume Ventures among the backers, and gross merchandise value in the region of 36 crore rupees. Gross merchandise value is also worth reading carefully, since it measures the value of goods sold rather than the company's revenue or profit. Any personal wealth figure attached to her name online is invented.

What Veena Ashiya’s story teaches Indian founders

The first lesson is that research before launch is a competitive asset, not a delay. Scanning 3,000 feet with orthopaedic input cost time and money before there was anything to sell, and it produced proprietary lasts and a claim that competitors cannot replicate by ordering from the same factory. In physical products, the work done before the first unit ships is often the only durable advantage available.

The second is that widely accepted discomfort is a market signal. Women had been told for decades that attractive shoes hurt, and the entire industry had accepted that framing. Whenever a customer group has been trained to tolerate a defect, look closely, because tolerance is not the same as satisfaction and the gap between them is where a new entrant can enter.

The third concerns turning down the safe path deliberately. Declining IIM Calcutta and declining a role in an established family business were both choices to build rather than to inherit or to follow. Neither is advice that generalises, but both point at something real, which is that a founder who has already given up a comfortable option tends to be harder to discourage when a hard category gets difficult.

Frequently asked questions about Veena Ashiya and Monrow Shoes

Who is Veena Ashiya?

Veena Ashiya is the founder and CEO of Monrow Shoes, an Indian women’s footwear brand she launched in 2016. She gave up a seat at IIM Calcutta to study at the National Institute of Fashion Technology, and worked in fashion and retail including roles associated with Versace and Tommy Hilfiger India before founding the company.

What makes Monrow Shoes different?

Monrow collaborated with orthopaedic specialists and scanned the feet of around 3,000 Indian women, then designed footwear around the foot structure those scans revealed, rather than using lasts derived from Western foot data as much footwear sold in India does.

Did Veena Ashiya join her family business?

No. Her father, Sesh Kiran Ashiya, founded the perfume brand Moksh, but she chose to build her own company rather than join it, launching Monrow in 2016 after extensive research.

How much funding has Monrow Shoes raised?

Ashiya launched the brand with a reported investment of around 4 crore rupees, and the company later raised a first institutional round reported at roughly 3.5 crore rupees. Blume Ventures is among its investors.

How big is Monrow Shoes?

The company has reported gross merchandise value in the region of 36 crore rupees, with roughly tenfold growth since 2019. Gross merchandise value measures the value of goods sold rather than the company’s revenue or profit.

What is Veena Ashiya’s net worth?

There is no verified public net-worth figure. Monrow Shoes is private and has not disclosed the valuation attached to its funding, and her shareholding is not on the public record, so any figure circulating online is unverified.