Mumbai-based casual wear brand The Souled Store has raised Rs 75 crore ($10.1 million) in Series B funding led by Elevation Capital.
The round also Sahil Barua of Delhivery; Gunjan Soni, CEO, Zalora; Revant Bhate, co-founder, Mosaic Wellness; Ramakant Sharma, Founder, Livspace; Ashish Goel, Founder, Urban Company; and Varun Duggirala, co-founder, The Glitch; among others.
The Souled Store said it will use fresh funds to expand its product portfolio on licensed merchandise, casual wear and expand its manufacturing capabilities.
The firm is also aiming to build an offline retail presence across 15 Indian cities.
Currently, it has three retail stores in Mumbai.
“The Souled Store was started with the idea of doing what you love, from the soul. That’s what sets us apart, the people behind the scenes love what they do, and that shows in our work. From day one, our aim has been to create a truly homegrown brand that focuses on three important aspects: great products, unique designs, and outstanding service,” Vedang Patel, CEO and co-founder, The Souled Store, said.
Patel added, “The focus going forward will be to introduce a variety of new product categories, enhance our customer reach, and expand our offline presence pan India to fulfill our aim of crossing Rs 1,000 crore GMV by 2025.”
The firm said it has remained profitable throughout the pandemic.
“We were thoroughly impressed by the kind of scale that the company has built-in a capital-efficient manner. This growth is a consequence of the company’s relentless focus on customer experience to drive loyalty & data-driven merchandising to manage inventory and keep operations lean,” Deepak Gaur, partner at Elevation Capital, said.
Founded in 2013 by Vedang Patel, Aditya Sharma, Rohin Samtaney, and Harsh Lal, The Souled Store works with brands by licensing, designing and manufacturing apparel and other merchandise.
Merchandises also include many pop culture-themed products like journals, umbrellas, backpacks among others.
The company has partnered over with 150+ franchises like Marvel and DC universes, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Friends, Game of Thrones, and cartoons like Looney Tunes Tom & Jerry.
The merchandising company has over 836,000 followers on Instagram and receives up to 200,000 daily visitors to its website and app.
The company said it is on track to do Rs 500 crore GMV by next year.
The previously bootstrapped company received its first seed funding from RP-SG Ventures in November 2018.
