New Delhi, April 29 -- Direct-to-consumer pop-culture apparel brand The Souled Store, backed by venture capital firm Elevation Capital and growth-stage investor Xponentia Capital Partners, has acquired Redwolf, a pop culture merchandise brand.

The financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed.

As part of the acquisition, Redwolf's founders--Ameya Thakur, Rahul Jaisheel, and Vivek Malhotra--will join The Souled Store team. "Their expertise and passion will play a crucial role in further enhancing our ability to offer innovative products that resonate with fans across India and beyond," The Souled Store said in a statement.

The acquisition follows comments made by The Souled Store's co-founder and CEO Vedang Patel to VCCircle earlier, where he mentioned the company was exploring brand acquisitions and new product launches.

"Merging with The Souled Store was the next logical step in realizing our vision of bringing the best pop culture merchandise to the Indian audience. All three of us are huge pop-culture geeks ourselves and look forward to leveraging the scale provided by The Souled Store to take the brand to greater heights." said Malhotra.

Patel said, "Redwolf's creativity and commitment to fandom-inspired products are a perfect fit. This acquisition will strengthen our mission to become the home of pop culture in India."

Founded in 2013, The Souled Store has built a robust pop culture presence with over 200 licenses, including titles like One Piece, Naruto, and Marvel. Its product line includes apparel such as cargo pants, linen shirts, and sneakers. The brand currently operates over 40 stores across India, and also sells online.

The company raised its first institutional funding in 2019, when RPSG Ventures invested Rs 22 crore in its Series A round. In 2021, it secured Rs 75 crore in Series B funding from Elevation Capital and angel investors. This was followed by a Rs 135 crore Series C round in 2023, led by mid-market private equity firm Xponentia. In October 2023, cricketer Hardik Pandya, previously a brand ambassador, also joined as an investor. To date, it has raised over Rs 230 crore across multiple funding rounds.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.