Universal Sportsbiz Receives fresh funds from Alteria Capital.
Sachin Tendulkar funded Universal Sportsbiz Pvt. Ltd (USPL ) has secured Rs 30 crore in a debt financing round solely led by Alteria Capital. Alteria Capital is a Mumbai based venture debt firm that very recently had invested in another promising startup.
USPL’s fundraising deal with Alteria Capital comes barely five months after it managed to scoop up $15 million (Rs 100 crore) from one of its exiting investors at a market valuation of $100 million. According to Vinod Murali (managing partner of Alteria Capital), USPL will utilize the latest fund infusion to meets its day-to-day working capital expenditure and for expanding into new markets as well as for other marketing activities.
Alteria Capital’s second investment in a startup marks the emergence of debt financing as a new fundraising tool for startups. Most experts have welcomed this trend in the wake of funding drought that has very badly hit the Indian startup ecosystem.
USPL claims to be one of its kind fashion startup
Incorporated in 2012 by Anajan Reddy, USPL has tied up with several Bollywood as well as sports celebrities in order to co-create a popular apparel brand, which is being currently sold through Omni channel platform. The startup claims that this fashion experimentation of co-creating an apparel brand is truly unique in India.
This apparently unique experimentation does stand a good chance of attaining success, given that it boosts a very impressive list of celebrity tie ups, including the likes of Virat Kohli and Bollywood celebrity Jacqueline Fernandez.
Currently, USPL’s brands are being sold across nearly 200 retails shops. This includes big retails chains like Shoppers stop and also online shopping platform like Myntra and Flipkart. Besides, the startup boasts exclusive brick and mortar stores in across 9 cities.