Founded in 2020, Solethreads currently sells flip-flops, slides and sneakers for both men and women via both online and offline channels.
The Gurgaon-based firm plans to use these funds for research and development and to grow its product portfolio, which currently has 1,200 stock keeping units (SKUs).
“It is very important for us to lead the curve when it comes to designs and innovations, and for us to be able to do that, the entire back-end needs to sit in-house, especially the design team. We are building that, and that’s where a large part of the funds will be deployed,” Sumant Kakaria, cofounder and chief executive of Solethreads, told ET in an interaction.
Currently, the D2C company has an omnichannel presence in about 600 multibrand outlets through distributors and in large retail formats such as Shoppers Stop, Reliance Retail and Metro Shoes.
The company also plans to expand its offline presence by opening its own stores, Kakaria said. It currently has one store in Mumbai, and plans to have 10 across the country by the end of the ongoing fiscal.
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“Footwear is a fairly large unorganised market, and as GDP per capita goes up footwear is one the categories that will get quickly organised. The framework in which a new footwear company needs to be created is new product development, design and innovation along with good market and distribution, with which one can create a good brand that appeals to GenZ and early millennials,” said Vinay Singh, cofounder and partner of Fireside Ventures. The non-leather footwear industry in India is projected to grow eight-fold by 2030 and is expected to cross the $6 billion mark by 2024, Solethreads said in a statement.
The company recorded a revenue of Rs 25 crore in the year ended March 31, 2023, and aims to close at Rs 50-60 crore in FY24. It is targeting an annual run rate of Rs 100 crore within the next year, Kakaria said.
“Our vision is not to make a boutique brand, which finds its 1-2% audience. Wallet share, size of market, room to play is not a problem in this category. Understanding the product and executing GTM (go-to-market) is important,” he added.
The fundraise for Solethreads comes at a time when venture investors are taking increased interest in D2C startups in the footwear space. These include companies such as Neeman’s, Nirmalaya, and Plaeto. Earlier this week, casual sneaker startup Flatheads was acquired by youth fashion brand Styched.