Sachin Tendulkar-backed fashion start-up raises Rs 300 mn in debt funding

Sachin Tendulkar-backed fashion start-up Universal Sportsbiz has raised Rs 300 million in debt funding from Alteria Capital, one of India’s leading venture debt companies.

Launched in 2012, Universal Sportsbiz initially focused on sports memorabilia before expanding to celebrity brands. The company owns brands such as Collectabillia, Imara, Ms Taken and Wrogn, and collaborates with sports star and movie actors including Virat Kohli, Jacqueline Fernandez and Kriti Sanon to promote those.

“High growth companies need access to multivariate sources of capital and it is great for Indian start-ups to have more access to venture debt,” said Anjana Reddy, founder & chief executive officer, Universal Sportsbiz.

The deal represents the second investment from Alteria Capital’s maiden Rs 10 billion fund, which saw its first close in February. Alteria provides venture debt to high growth innovative Indian start-ups with a cheque size range of Rs 20 million – Rs 1 billion. It had recently announced its first investment in ready-to-cook foodtech startup, Fingerlix (Maverix Platforms).

USPL had earlier raised Rs 1 billion from venture capital firm Accel Partners in November last year, which it had said would be used expand product portfolio and penetrate into newer regions. Its brands are retailed at over 200 points of sale with a geographical spread across 34 cities nationally.