Footwear brand Inc.5 Shoes has raised $10 million (about Rs 82 crore) in a Series A funding round led by mid-market private equity firm Carpediem Capital. The round also saw participation from Param Capital, among others.
This is the maiden institutional round for the 25-year-old brand, which operated as a bootstrapped venture thus far.
The Mumbai-based company will use the funds to double down on its footprint in urban areas as well as expand to tier-II and tier-III cities. It will also deploy the funds for developing its technology stack, improving its online presence, expanding the categories currently served by the brand as well strengthening its senior leadership.
Founded in 1998, Inc.5 Shoes is a footwear brand with around 70 exclusive brand outlets and 200 shop-in-shops across the country. It is also present on e-commerce platforms like Myntra, Nykaa, and Amazon, and has its own website as well.
“This year, we aim to cross the 100-store mark,” said Amin Virji, managing director, Inc.5 Shoes.
Dexter Capital Advisors was the exclusive financial advisor to the transaction.
Inc.5 is Carpediem Capital’s third investment from its second fund, the homegrown PE firm said in a statement. The firm, in 2019, invested $4 million into financial services company Sindhuja Microcredit.
Carpediem Capital Partners (CCP) Fund II, its second fund, was launched in 2019 and aims to raise a total corpus of Rs 700 crore.
In 2022, VCCircle reported that the fund had crossed the halfway mark after raising nearly Rs 400 crore in commitments. The fund aims to invest in eight to 10 companies in the consumer goods and consumer services sector.
Carpediem was founded in 2014 by Abhishek Sharman, Arvind Nair and Hithendra Ramachandran, all former executives of India Equity Partners.
The PE firm’s first fund had raised the bulk of the target corpus by the middle of 2016 and invested in eight companies: interior designer Flipspaces; quick-service restaurant chain Biryani Blues; sauce maker Adinath Agro Processed Foods Pvt. Ltd; and repair services startup Yaantra. It also invested in the fashion jewellery brand Sukkhi Online Pvt. Ltd, retail chain Nysaa Retail Pvt. Ltd and medical devices company Collateral Medical.