SUMMARY
Led by Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund, the round also saw participation from Sauce.vc, Anicut Capital, DSG Consumer Partners and Singularity Growth Opportunities Fund
The startup will use the funding to fuel growth, enhance focus on core product categories, shore up its tech stack and scale operations
Backed by cricketer KL Rahul, XYXX is a D2C menswear brand that sells products across multiple categories such as underwear, loungewear and athleisure
D2C menswear brand XYXX has raised INR 110 Cr ($13.5 Mn) as part of its Series C funding round led by Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund.
The round also saw participation from its existing institutional investors such as Sauce.vc, Anicut Capital, DSG Consumer Partners and Singularity Growth Opportunities Fund.
The startup will use the funding to fuel growth and enhance focus on core product categories. The capital will also be used to shore up the tech stack and scale, through which the startup aims to drive efficiency and profitability.
“We are thrilled to welcome Amazon into our investor group. We’ve seen rapid growth, right from our inception in 2016 and we plan to use the investment to keep doing more of the same, focusing on our core product categories and driving efficiency and profitability through greater scale and better use of technology,” said Yogesh Kabra, the founder of XYXX.
“… In a short time, XYXX has created strong brand recall with their relentless focus on product market fit and we are excited to work with them for their next phase of growth,” said Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund’s spokesperson.
Founded in 2017 by Kabra, XYXX is a D2C menswear brand that sells products across multiple categories such as underwear, loungewear and athleisure. The new fundraiser comes nine months after the startup raised $11 Mn in a mix of equity and debt from Singularity Growth Opportunities Fund and others.
Prior to that, XYXX raised INR 30 Cr capital as part of its Series B round in June 2021. The D2C platform is also backed by Indian cricketer KL Rahul, who is also the company’s brand ambassador.
The startup also sells its products online on 14 ecommerce platforms as well as its website. XYXX claims to have a pan-India presence, operating multi-brand outlets (MBOs) and exclusive brand outlets (EBOs) across more than 18,000 touchpoints in 150+ cities.
Going forward, the startup plans to open an additional six stores and grow the scale of its EBO by 2X by the end of the financial year 2023-24 (FY24). XYXX also plans to continue its focus on expanding the scale and scope of its operations to sustain its hyper-growth trajectory.
According to founder Yogesh Kabra, general trade will continue to be the startup’s ‘most important sales channel’ as it penetrates deeper into existing markets. The startup also plans to foray into newer product lines and strengthen its EBO presence across the Western and Southern parts of India.
With more than 1,000 SKUs, the startup reported a revenue of INR 57 Cr in FY22. It competes directly with the likes of players such as Almo and DaMENSCH.
XYXX operates within the larger D2C apparel, which has long been an investor favourite. Despite the funding winter taking the sheen away from the sector, D2C apparel platforms continue to steadily inch up.
Home to thousands of D2C startups, India has incubated one of the biggest online fashion industries. According to a report, the homegrown D2C fashion space is projected to grow to a total addressable market size of $43.2 Bn by 2025, with the country’s total ecommerce opportunity expected to reach $400 Bn during the same period.
