Delhi-based D2C footwear brand Yoho has secured INR 27 crore ($3.21 million) in its Pre-Series B funding round, led by Gulf Islamic Investments (GII).
Notable͏͏ Investors͏͏ Join͏͏ Funding͏͏ Round:
The͏͏ funding͏͏ round͏͏ also͏͏ included͏͏ several͏͏ prominent͏͏ investors,͏͏ such͏͏ as͏͏ Rajeev͏͏ Misra,͏͏ CEO͏͏ of͏͏ SoftBank͏͏ Investment͏͏ Advisers,͏͏ Vijay͏͏ Shekhar͏͏ Sharma͏͏ of͏͏ Paytm,͏͏ Rukam͏͏ Capital,͏͏ and͏͏ Pankaj͏͏ Chaddah͏͏ of͏͏ Shyft.
Capital͏͏ for͏͏ Growth͏͏ and͏͏ R&D:
The͏͏ company͏͏ intends͏͏ to͏͏ utilise͏͏ the͏͏ new͏͏ capital͏͏ to͏͏ drive͏͏ its͏͏ domestic͏͏ and͏͏ international͏͏ expansion,͏͏ increase͏͏ investments͏͏ in͏͏ research͏͏ and͏͏ development͏͏ (R&D),͏͏ and͏͏ expand͏͏ its͏͏ product͏͏ portfolio.
In͏͏ a͏͏ joint͏͏ statement,͏͏ the͏͏ co-founders͏͏ remarked,͏͏ “This͏͏ capital͏͏ infusion͏͏ enables͏͏ us͏͏ to͏͏ accelerate͏͏ our͏͏ product͏͏ development,͏͏ broaden͏͏ our͏͏ market͏͏ reach,͏͏ and͏͏ make͏͏ an͏͏ even͏͏ greater͏͏ impact͏͏ on͏͏ the͏͏ lives͏͏ of͏͏ consumers.”
“GII͏͏ offers͏͏ innovative͏͏ growth͏͏ funding͏͏ solutions͏͏ that͏͏ cater͏͏ to͏͏ changing͏͏ consumer͏͏ preferences.͏͏ Yoho’s͏͏ strategy͏͏ of͏͏ merging͏͏ biomechanical͏͏ expertise͏͏ with͏͏ affordability͏͏ addresses͏͏ a͏͏ significant͏͏ gap͏͏ in͏͏ the͏͏ market,͏͏ which͏͏ GII’s͏͏ investment͏͏ can͏͏ help͏͏ bridge,”͏͏ said͏͏ GII’s͏͏ co-founder͏͏ and͏͏ co-CEO,͏͏ Mohammed͏͏ Al-Hassan.
Founded͏͏ in͏͏ 2020͏͏ by͏͏ Ahmad͏͏ Hushsham͏͏ and͏͏ Prateek͏͏ Singhal,͏͏ Yoho͏͏ manufactures͏͏ affordable,͏͏ lightweight͏͏ orthopaedic͏͏ footwear͏͏ using͏͏ AI-powered͏͏ solutions.
With͏͏ this͏͏ funding,͏͏ Yoho͏͏ has͏͏ raised͏͏ over͏͏ INR͏͏ 47͏͏ crore͏͏ to͏͏ date.͏͏ The͏͏ company͏͏ previously͏͏ secured͏͏ INR͏͏ 20͏͏ crore͏͏ in͏͏ a͏͏ Pre-Series͏͏ A͏͏ round͏͏ in͏͏ 2022,͏͏ led͏͏ by͏͏ Rajeev͏͏ Misra,͏͏ Rukam͏͏ Capital,͏͏ and͏͏ Vijay͏͏ Shekhar͏͏ Sharma.
Yoho’s͏͏ Sales͏͏ and͏͏ E-Commerce͏͏ Presence:
Since͏͏ its͏͏ launch,͏͏ Yoho͏͏ has͏͏ sold͏͏ over͏͏ 100,000͏͏ pairs͏͏ of͏͏ footwear.͏͏ The͏͏ company͏͏ sells͏͏ its͏͏ products͏͏ on͏͏ e-commerce͏͏ platforms͏͏ like͏͏ Amazon,͏͏ Flipkart,͏͏ Myntra,͏͏ and͏͏ Tata͏͏ 1mg,͏͏ as͏͏ well͏͏ as͏͏ through͏͏ its͏͏ own͏͏ website.
Looking͏͏ ahead,͏͏ the͏͏ startup͏͏ aims͏͏ to͏͏ enhance͏͏ its͏͏ offline͏͏ presence͏͏ by͏͏ partnering͏͏ with͏͏ 2,000͏͏ multi-brand͏͏ outlets͏͏ (MBOs)͏͏ in͏͏ Tier-I͏͏ and͏͏ Tier-II͏͏ cities͏͏ and͏͏ launching͏͏ exclusive͏͏ brand͏͏ outlets͏͏ (EBOs).͏͏ It͏͏ also͏͏ plans͏͏ to͏͏ expand͏͏ its͏͏ marketing͏͏ initiatives͏͏ and͏͏ increase͏͏ its͏͏ product͏͏ catalogue͏͏ from͏͏ 100͏͏ to͏͏ 300͏͏ styles͏͏ by͏͏ 2025.
In͏͏ a͏͏ statement,͏͏ the͏͏ company͏͏ indicated͏͏ plans͏͏ to͏͏ enter͏͏ international͏͏ markets,͏͏ targeting͏͏ regions͏͏ such͏͏ as͏͏ the͏͏ Middle͏͏ East,͏͏ Africa,͏͏ and͏͏ the͏͏ US.
Yoho͏͏ operates͏͏ within͏͏ the͏͏ broader͏͏ Indian͏͏ D2C͏͏ footwear͏͏ sector,͏͏ which͏͏ is͏͏ expected͏͏ to͏͏ reach͏͏ a͏͏ market͏͏ value͏͏ of͏͏ $14͏͏ billion͏͏ by͏͏ 2027,͏͏ according͏͏ to͏͏ reports.
Continue͏͏ Exploring:͏͏ India’s͏͏ footwear market͏͏ set͏͏ for͏͏ double-digit͏͏ growth,͏͏ expected͏͏ to͏͏ reach͏͏ INR͏͏ 191K͏͏ Crore͏͏ by͏͏ FY͏͏ 2028:͏͏ 1Lattice͏͏ Report
Recent͏͏ Investments͏͏ in͏͏ the͏͏ Indian͏͏ Footwear Industry:
This͏͏ funding͏͏ round͏͏ comes͏͏ on͏͏ the͏͏ heels͏͏ of͏͏ other͏͏ significant͏͏ investments͏͏ in͏͏ the͏͏ Indian͏͏ footwear͏͏ sector.͏͏ In͏͏ July͏͏ this͏͏ year,͏͏ D2C͏͏ sneaker͏͏ brand͏͏ Comet͏͏ secured͏͏ INR͏͏ 42͏͏ crore͏͏ from͏͏ investors͏͏ including͏͏ Elevation͏͏ Capital͏͏ and͏͏ Nexus͏͏ Venture͏͏ Partners.
In͏͏ October͏͏ 2023,͏͏ Mumbai-based͏͏ omnichannel͏͏ footwear͏͏ brand͏͏ Inc.5͏͏ Shoes͏͏ raised͏͏ $10͏͏ million͏͏ in͏͏ a͏͏ Series͏͏ A͏͏ round͏͏ led͏͏ by͏͏ Carpediem͏͏ Capital.͏͏ Previously,͏͏ in͏͏ July͏͏ 2022,͏͏ casual͏͏ footwear͏͏ startup͏͏ Solethreads͏͏ secured͏͏ $3.7͏͏ million͏͏ in͏͏ Series͏͏ A͏͏ funding,͏͏ also͏͏ led͏͏ by͏͏ Fireside͏͏ Ventures.
