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Universal Sportsbiz secures Rs 46 cr funding
09 Jul '15
2 min read
Universal Sportsbiz Pvt Ltd (USPL), the celebrity fashion and memorabilia company, has secured Rs 46 crore ($ 7.5 million) from existing investor Accel Partners in a second round of funding, according to media reports.
The funding follows the initial investment by Accel Partners of Rs 17.25 crore in July, 2012. The present round of funding will be invested on foraying into new markets and segments.
USPL Founder Anjana Reddy said: "The additional capital will accelerate our expansion plans of foraying into new markets and newer segments consolidating our pole position in the celebrity fashion line industry."
USPL, backed by cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar is the only home-grown Indian company with significant presence in the multi-billion dollar celebrity fashion lines business with three distinct offerings.
Founded in April 2012, USPL’s portfolio of leading brands include Wrogn, a premier fashion brand inspired by Virat Kohli, Imara, a contemporary women’s ethnic fashion brand with Shraddha Kapoor and Collectabillia, which e-tails sports, and entertainment-based fashion accessories.
USPL will deploy the funds raised through the just concluded Series-B funding to expand the distribution network for Wrogn and Imara across the country as also scaling up the branding efforts for the company’s offerings. It plans to enhance the network presence from 30 stores to over 75 stores for Imara and from 38 stores to 70 stores for Wrogn.
Riding on the success of Imara, USPL also plans to introduce Imara Fusion, extending the brand’s core product philosophy of creating new tales of fashion, to develop contemporary designs for work and casual wear. For Collectabillia, USPL plans to extend its range of fashion accessories forging alliances with 10 leading iconic and celebrated personalities. As an extension of this initiative, Collectabillia will also seek to identify and engage untapped talent for developing and sourcing designs for its line of fashion accessories.
“We have a hybrid model where we use both offline and online sales for these brands," Reddy said.
“The next phase in the evolution of fashion e-commerce would be dominated by brands. As the pressure to improve margins in horizontal commerce and market places increase, good brands will provide the answer. USPL has an online and offline strategy for distribution. They have done an excellent job in building three great brands and have global aspiration in the near future ,” said Mahendran Balachandran, Partner, Accel Partners India. (SH)
The funding follows the initial investment by Accel Partners of Rs 17.25 crore in July, 2012. The present round of funding will be invested on foraying into new markets and segments.
USPL Founder Anjana Reddy said: "The additional capital will accelerate our expansion plans of foraying into new markets and newer segments consolidating our pole position in the celebrity fashion line industry."
USPL, backed by cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar is the only home-grown Indian company with significant presence in the multi-billion dollar celebrity fashion lines business with three distinct offerings.
Founded in April 2012, USPL’s portfolio of leading brands include Wrogn, a premier fashion brand inspired by Virat Kohli, Imara, a contemporary women’s ethnic fashion brand with Shraddha Kapoor and Collectabillia, which e-tails sports, and entertainment-based fashion accessories.
USPL will deploy the funds raised through the just concluded Series-B funding to expand the distribution network for Wrogn and Imara across the country as also scaling up the branding efforts for the company’s offerings. It plans to enhance the network presence from 30 stores to over 75 stores for Imara and from 38 stores to 70 stores for Wrogn.
Riding on the success of Imara, USPL also plans to introduce Imara Fusion, extending the brand’s core product philosophy of creating new tales of fashion, to develop contemporary designs for work and casual wear. For Collectabillia, USPL plans to extend its range of fashion accessories forging alliances with 10 leading iconic and celebrated personalities. As an extension of this initiative, Collectabillia will also seek to identify and engage untapped talent for developing and sourcing designs for its line of fashion accessories.
“We have a hybrid model where we use both offline and online sales for these brands," Reddy said.
“The next phase in the evolution of fashion e-commerce would be dominated by brands. As the pressure to improve margins in horizontal commerce and market places increase, good brands will provide the answer. USPL has an online and offline strategy for distribution. They have done an excellent job in building three great brands and have global aspiration in the near future ,” said Mahendran Balachandran, Partner, Accel Partners India. (SH)
Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India
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