The Souled Store, a lifestyle retailer, raised Rs 135 crore in a Series C round that was headed by Xponentia Capital and included previous backers Elevation Capital and RPSG Capital, who both expanded their stake in the business.
The firm plans to use the additional funding to enter new markets and open more than 100 stores throughout India in the upcoming two years, according to a statement from The Souled Store. Also, the money invested will be used to purchase back 100% of the vested employee options (ESOPs).
Earlier, in August 2021, Elevation Capital led a Series B transaction in which the ten-year-old company raised Rs 75 crore ($10 million). For the first five years, the business was bootstrapped before securing seed capital from RP-SG Ventures in November 2018.
The Souled Shop creates, produces, and sells garments with patterns based on popular culture icons including superheroes, motion pictures, and television series.
The platform states that it has collaborated with over 150 franchisees, and its product line includes, among other things, t-shirts, phone cases, badges, boxers, notebooks, mugs, and umbrellas. Also, it enables users to design custom t-shirts.
The Souled Shop, which was founded by Vedang Patel, Aditya Sharma, Rohin Samtaney, and Harsh Lal, claims to generate an annualized income of Rs 450 crore GMV, with 70% of it coming from its own app and website and 15% coming from both physical and online markets.
The business, which boasts 5.5 million gen Z and millennial clients, also stated that 60% of its income is generated outside of the top 10 cities and that the opening of the additional offline locations will strengthen its footprint in tier II and III cities.
According to the company’s annual financial statement filed with RoC, The Souled Store’s gross operational income increased 82.2% during FY22, from Rs 79.6 crore to Rs 145 crore. In contrast to its profit of Rs 51 lakh in FY21, the company lost Rs 26.72 crore in FY22, posting a loss. The company intends to go public after earning Rs 1500 crore in sales over the following three years.
