The Souled Store, a Mumbai-based pop culture merchandise startup has now secured $3 million (Rs. 21 crores) in a fresh funding round which is led by the RP-SG Ventures. RP-SG Ventures is a SEBI registered Venture Capital fund backed by the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group.
The Souled Store is going to use the newly raised funds to increase and strengthen its marketing and backend requirements.
Founded and started by three youngsters Rohin, Vedang, and Aditya in the year 2013, this pop culture merchandise startup provides an online platform for merchandise with curated designs like badges, mugs, notebooks, caps, t-shirts, and phone covers.
Talking about the startup and its expansion plan, Vedang Patel, Co-Founder of The Souled Store, said, “Over the last couple of years, we’ve grown at 2-3 times each year and the focus going forward will be to rapidly expand our manufacturing and backend capabilities, introduce a variety of new product lines, enhance our customer experience, and building our offline presence.”
To offer officially licensed products, the startup has already partnered with global entities like WWE and Warner Bros along with some Indian brands and youth icons like indie music artists, music festivals, franchises, stand up comedians, and Pro Kabaddi league.
The fan merchandise market in India has been estimated to worth around Rs 10,000 crore. The market is also expected to grow at a rate of 30% per year.
Picture Credits: The Souled Store