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Elevation-backed The Souled Store turns profitable in FY24

Entrackr · 2d

The Souled Store, a direct-to-consumer pop culture brand, witnessed impressive growth with a 54.5% year-on-year increase in the fiscal year ending March 2024. The Xponentia Capital-backed company also achieved profitability during this period. The Souled Store's revenue from operations grew to Rs 360 crore in FY24 from Rs 233 crore in FY23, its annual financial statements filed with the Registrar of Companies (RoC) show. Founded in 2014, The Souled Store designs, manufactures and sells apparel inspired by pop culture, featuring themes from superheroes, movies, and TV shows. Its product lineup includes footwear, books, mobile covers, notebooks, mugs, and more. According to the company's website, it has 18 stores across India. Revenue from the sale of products in stores and online accounted for 98.6% of the revenue, which increased 55% to Rs 355 crore in FY23. The rest of the operating income comes from membership fees. The Souled Store also added Rs 5 crore from interest on deposits and gain on current investment which tallied its overall revenue to Rs 365 crore in FY24, compared to Rs 236 crore in FY23. For the D2C brand, the cost of procurement accounted for 42.2% of the total expenditure. To the tune of scale, this cost grew by 68.5% to Rs 150 crore in FY24. Its employee benefits and rent also increased by 34.5% and 77.8% respectively in the previous fiscal year. The Mumbai-based firm spent Rs 68 crore on advertising in FY24. Legal, freight, job work charges, and other overheads increased the overall expenditure by 40.3% to Rs 355 crore in FY24 from Rs 253 crore in FY23. Over 50% YoY growth coupled with controlled expenditure led the firm to register a net profit of Rs 18 crore in FY24 compared to a loss of Rs 16.5 crore in FY23. Its ROCE and EBITDA margins improved to a positive 6.38% and 5.21% respectively. On a unit level, it spent Rs 0.99 to earn a rupee of operating revenue. At the end of FY24, the company’s total current assets stood at Rs 225 crore including the cash and bank balances of Rs 44 crore. The Souled Store has raised nearly $30 million to date, including a $16 million round led by Xponentia Capital in 2023 and a $10 million round led by Elevation in 2021. According to the startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, Elevation is the largest external stakeholder followed by Xponentia Capital.