Sports brand Elevar on Monday said that it has raised ₹19 crore as a part of its Series A round of funding led by venture capital firm Kalaari Capital.
Dream Capital, the venture capital arm of gaming unicorn Dream Sports has also participated as a part of this round.
Elevar is expected to utilise the funds towards expanding its product portfolio, increasing its marketing efforts, and building out its team.
Three-year-old, Elevar is a direct-to-consumer (D2C) sports brand that currently has two core product categories – athletic performance footwear and cricket bats.
“We are thrilled to have Kalaari Capital and Dream Capital partner with us. This gives us the platform to take our product portfolio to the next level, enabling us to build a millennial-first sports brand that addresses our customer’s performance requirements as well as their modern design sensibilities,” said Kunal Joshi, co-founder, Elevar.
“Cutting-edge materials and technology in sporting goods have always been priced out of reach for several Indians. Our direct-to-consumer business model enables us to offer customers these innovative technologies at an extremely attractive price point”, said Aayush Tapuriah, co-founder, Elevar.
Elevar at present offers its flagship shoe – ARC RACER which is created with the company’s proprietary sole unit, RYDE FOAM.
Elevar’s also retails a line of cricket bats designed specifically to capture the minds of young cricketers.
“Aayush and Kunal’s passion for building an India-first sports brand was infectious. Their understanding of the market, commitment to product innovation & customer experience stood out for us. We are proud to be an early partner in their vision to build a disruptive sports company from India,” said Vani Kola, founder and managing director, Kalaari Capital.
According to Elevar, India’s sports footwear market is worth $3.5 billion and growing at 15-20% annually. Despite the sector featuring several established global and Indian brands, Elevar is betting on its product and marketing strategy to be a differentiator in the space.
“Elevar’s products speak for themselves in terms of their appeal, design and quality. We look forward to partnering with the team to develop India’s leading sports lifestyle brand,” said Dev Bajaj, managing director, Dream Capital.
Earlier in August, Dream Sports, the owner of fantasy sports platform Dream11, set up a $250 million venture capital (VC) fund to invest in sports, gaming and fitness-tech startups.
Source: Mint