Aditya Birla Group’s TMRW Picks Up 16% Stake In Virat Kohli-Backed WROGN

Aditya Birla Group’s fashion and lifestyle venture TMRW has acquired a 16% stake in Universal Sportsbiz Private Limited (USPL), which operates Virat Kohli and Accel-backed youth fashion brand WROGN, for INR 125 Cr (about $15 Mn) in an all-cash deal.

Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail said in an exchange filing on Wednesday (June 19) that the minority investment comes with an option for a majority stake acquisition later in USPL.

In a separate statement, TMRW said the fresh capital will help WROGN strengthen its presence on fashion platforms such as Myntra, expand its offline footprint and scale up its direct-to-customer (D2C) business.

WROGN is targeting sales worth INR 1,500 Cr in the next five years, the statement added.

Founded in 2014 by the brother-sister duo of Anjana Reddy and Vikram Reddy, WROGN is a D2C omnichannel men’s fashion brand, which sells a wide range of casual wear, footwear and accessories.

TMRW is the house of brands set up by the Aditya Birla Group in June 2022, and at the time, the company said it would build a portfolio of 30 fashion and lifestyle brands by 2025 either through acquisitions or incubating the brands. The house of brands is led by cofounder and CEO Prashanth Aluru.

TMRW acquired majority stakes in seven D2C fashion brands since its inception in 2022 for a total investment of INR 444 Cr. It is a majority shareholder in brands including The Indian Garage Co., Bewakoof, Nauti Nati, Juneberry, Urbano, Veirdo, and Nobero. The brands are sold through marketplaces as well as offline multibrand fashion retailers. 

The investment in WROGN coincides with D2C fashion brands seeing heightened interest from investors. Earlier this month, D2C fashion brand The Pant Project secured $4.25 Mn in a Series A funding round led by Sorin Investments.

In May, High Street Essentials, which owns and operates women’s fashion brands Indya and FabAlley, raised INR 50 Cr ($6 Mn) in a funding round led by JSW Foundation chairperson Sangita Jindal.

At the heart of this is India’s fashion ecommerce industry, which is expected to grow at a CAGR of 25% to surpass the $112 Bn threshold by 2030, as per a report by Inc42 and Emiza.