Direct-to-consumer (D2C) footwear brand - Yoho - has raised INR 27 crore which comes to around USD 3.2 million in a pre-Series B round. The funding series was led by Gulf Islamic Investments (GII), while the participants included Rajeev Misra (CEO, SoftBank Investment Advisers), Vijay Shekhar Sharma (CEO, Paytm), Rukam Capital, and Pankaj Chaddah (Founder, Shyft).
The Delhi-based startup has raised more than INR 47 crore which comes to around USD 5.6 million in funding to date, including the current round. Furthemore, the brand had also previously secured INNR 20 crore in a Pre-Series A round back in 2022, wherein, the funding was led by Rajeev Misra, Rukam Capital, and Vijay Shekhar Sharma.
The proceeds will be used to drive its growth and innovation, including investment in research and development.
Also to note, Yoho claims to have sold over 1 lakh pairs of footwear since its inception. The company focuses its sales across various e-commerce platforms which include Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, and Tata 1mg, as well as through its website.
It is worth to note that Yoho envisions to boost its offline presence across India, by targeting partnerships with 2,000 Multi-Brand Outlets (MBOs) across tier I and tier II cities.
So to say, the launch of exclusive brand outlets (EBOs) will offer an enhanced customer experience by leveraging innovative use of technology, which will include advanced AI capabilities to address common fitting issues while at the same time reduce returns, and optimize inventory management. Additionally, the brand also plans to create stronger brand awareness through marketing initiatives and community-building efforts while also increase its product catalog from 100 to 300 styles by 2025.
