D2C footwear brand Yoho raises Rs 27 Cr in pre-Series B round

Direct-to-consumer (D2C) footwear brand Yoho has raised Rs 27 crore (around $3.2 million) in a pre-Series B round led by Gulf Islamic Investments (GII). Rajeev Misra (CEO, SoftBank Investment Advisers), Vijay Shekhar Sharma (CEO, Paytm), Rukam Capital, and Pankaj Chaddah (Founder, Shyft) have also participated.

Including the current round, the Delhi-based startup has raised more than Rs 47 crore (around $5.6 million) in funding to date. The brand had previously secured Rs 20 crore in a Pre-Series A round in 2022, led by Rajeev Misra, Rukam Capital, and Vijay Shekhar Sharma.

The proceeds will be used to drive its growth and innovation, including investment in research and development.

Since its launch, Yoho claims to have sold over 1 million pairs of footwear. The company sells its products on e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, and Tata 1mg, as well as through its website. 

Notably, it seeks to boost its offline presence across India, targeting partnerships with 2,000 Multi-Brand Outlets (MBOs) in tier I and tier II cities. The launch of exclusive brand outlets (EBOs) will offer an enhanced customer experience through the innovative use of technology, including AI to address common fitting issues, reduce returns, and optimize inventory management. 

It also plans to create stronger brand awareness through marketing initiatives and community-building efforts and increase its product catalog from 100 to 300 styles by 2025.