Agilitas Sports, the sportswear and athleisure products platform started by former Puma India head Abhishek Ganguly, has raised Rs 100 crore in new funding from venture capital fund Nexus Venture Partners. As part of the investment, Suvir Sujan, MD, Nexus Venture Partners, will join the Agilitas board as an advisor.
In May, the Bengaluru-based company raised Rs 430 crore from Convergent Finance LLP, which is led by former Fairfax India executive Harsha Raghavan. The Agilitas investment from Nexus underscores the growing trend of venture funds looking to back companies in the manufacturing and retail business that leverage technology as an additional layer.
Ganguly said Agilitas is close to finalising a licensing deal with an international shoe brand, which will allow it to sell the brand exclusively in India. “We are looking to close a few deals on the consumer brand side. With these plans in the pipeline, we decided to raise the latest round from Nexus,” he said.
In September, Agilitas acquired Mochiko, the country’s largest sports shoe manufacturer, in an all-cash deal. Gurgaon-based Mochiko manufactures shoes for international brands such as Adidas, Puma, New Balance, Skechers, Reebok, Asics, Crocs, Decathlon, Clarks and US Polo.
“Coupled with the collective operating experience of the cofounders in the Indian sports footwear market, we believe that (Agilitas is) … a pathbreaking sports company that is poised for global impact,” said Sujan.
Ganguly’s cofounders at Agilitas are Atul Bajaj and Amit Prabhu, his former colleagues from Puma India. They had left Puma India in August.
