Venture debt firm Alteria Capital Advisors LLP has invested in Sachin Tendulkar-backed celebrity fashion firm Universal Sportsbiz Pvt. Ltd.
Alteria, floated by former top executives at Temasek-owned venture debt provider InnoVen Capital India Pvt. Ltd, provided Rs 30 crore ($4.6 million) to USPL, the venture debt firm said in a statement.
InnoVen had invested Rs 8 crore in USPL in 2015.
The latest fundraising for USPL comes nearly five months after it raised $15 million (Rs 100 crore) from its existing venture capital investor Accel Partners in November last year. Following the last funding round, USPL’s valuation had crossed $100 million (Rs 650 crore).
“High-growth companies need access to multivariate sources of capital and it is great for Indian startups to have more access to venture debt,†said USPL’s founder and CEO Anjana Reddy, a former national-level badminton player and a member of the business family that once controlled media firm Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd.
USPL, which was founded in 2012, is also associated with cricketer Virat Kohli—it launched Kohli’s fashion label Wrogn in October 2014. Its portfolio also includes Imara, a contemporary women’s ethnic brand and Ms.Taken, a women’s western wear brand.
The company‘s brands are retailed at Shoppers Stop’s outlets and online platforms such as Myntra, Jabong and Flipkart.
"The consumer segment in India is looking attractive and USPL is well positioned to emerge as a winner in this space," said Ajay Hattangdi, co- founder and managing partner, Alteria Capital. Vinod Murali, co-founder and managing partner, Alteria, said USPL has consistently delivered on stated objectives and built a great team to take the business to the next level.
Alteria Capital
The venture debt firm had made its first investment in ready-to-cook food startup Fingerlix earlier last week.
The firm’s maiden fund is registered as a Category-II alternative investment fund under the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s norms. It has a target to raise Rs 1,000 crore, with an option to raise an additional Rs 200 crore. It targets early- and growth-stage startups with cheques of up to Rs 100 crore each.
Venture debt as a segment is growing in India even as venture capital activity is seeing a slowdown of sorts. Other major players offering debt funding to early-stage companies in India include Delhi’s Trifecta Capital Advisors, Bengaluru-based Capital Float, IFMR Capital of Chennai and Ahmedabad-based Lendingkart.
