D2C Apparel Startup The Souled Store Raises Rs 135 Crore Funding Led By Xponentia Capital

Direct-to-consumer pop culture apparel startup The Souled Store has raised Rs 135 crore in a funding round led by Xponentia Capital.Existing shareholders Elevation Capital and RPSG Capital, an early-stage consumer VC fund from RP-Sanjiv Goenka group, also participated in the new round.The D2C brand will use the capital to expand its offline stores to more than 100 across the country and invest in newer categories like kids wear and sneakers, cofounder Vedang Patel told ET.“One of the reasons we want to raise money is because our offline stores are doing extremely well; they beat industry metrics and we want to really capitalise on that growth lever,” he said. “The second thing we want to do is launch new categories like kids wear; footwear is doing really well.”He said unlike the industry standard of selling Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 worth of products per square foot per year, The Souled Store sells about Rs 70,000 per square foot per year. It currently operates 12 stores across Mumbai, Bengaluru, Gurugram and other cities. Currently, 70% of its revenue comes from the app or website, 15% from offline stores, and 15% from online marketplaces like Myntra and Amazon.Discover the stories of your interestBlockchain5 StoriesCyber-safety7 StoriesFintech9 StoriesE-comm9 StoriesML8 StoriesEdtech6 StoriesAs much as 60% of its revenue comes from outside the top 10 cities and the new offline stores will help it sell better in tier II and tier III cities.The investment will also be used to offer a buyback of 100% of vested employee stock options, Patel said.The Souled Store will also expand to more international markets in the next two-three years