The Souled Store raises Rs 135 crore and intends to increase product selection and establish 100 new outlets.

The Souled Store, a lifestyle retailer, raised Rs 135 crore from Xponentia Capital with help from current investors Elevation Capital and RPSG Capital, who boosted their stake in the business. The greatest consumer sector investment made by Xponentia is this one.

The company will use the money to open more than 100 stores across India in the next two years and diversify into other product categories. The lifestyle brand added that the money will also be utilised to offer a buyback of 100% of vested employee options.

The Souled Store, a company noted for its fan merchandise, was founded in 2013 by co-founders Vedang Patel, Aditya Sharma, Rohin Samtaney, and Harsh Lal. It has 5.5 million Gen Z and Millennial customers. Yet, non-fan stuff accounts for half of company earnings. It has raised about Rs 85 crore so far and has an annualised income of over Rs 450 crore GMV.

The Souled Store offers official, licensed stuff from movies, TV series, sports teams, comedians, and musicians, including t-shirts, boxers, backpacks, shoes, socks, pins, and badges.

Presently, their website and app generate 70% of their revenue, with the remaining 30% coming from both offline and online marketplaces. The top 10 cities account for over 60% of total income.

“Our design first thinking, high product quality, and  deep understanding of the youth has helped us become a truly distinguished brand,  and we plan to capitalise our high brand equity to grow current categories & foray into  other lifestyle products. We are also expanding our offline presence & intend to create  destination stores that would excite our customers. The Souled Store further aims to  reach Rs 1,500 crore in revenue over the next three years and then go public,” said CEO Vedang Patel.