XYXX Raises Rs110 Crore In Series C Funding Round Led By Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund

XYXX, a men's innerwear and lifestyle label, has closed a Rs 110 crore (approximately $13.5 million) Series C funding round led by Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund. It was backed in this round by existing institutional investors, including Sauce.vc, Anicut Capital, DSG Consumer Partners and Singularity Growth Opportunities Fund. 

Yogesh Kabra, founder of XYXX commented, "We are thrilled to welcome Amazon into our investor group. We saw rapid growth right from our inception in 2016, and we plan to use the investment to keep doing more of the same, focusing on our core product categories and driving efficiency and profitability through greater scale and better use of technology." 

XYXX retails on 14 digital marketplaces, including Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra and Ajio. On the heels of a pan-India omnichannel expansion, the company has built a network of over 18,000 retailer partners across India through multi-brand outlets (MBOs) like Shopper's Stop and Reliance Trends and exclusive business outlets (EBO), mapping a network of 150 cities and towns.

In FY 2023, XYXX launched its first exclusive brand outlet (EBO) in central Mumbai, soon followed by three more in Indore, Bangalore and north Mumbai. It aims to open another six stores and double the EBO scale in FY24.

Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund (ASVF), through its official spokesperson, stated, "We are impressed with the XYXX management team led by Kabra and their ability to continuously serve consumers with high quality differentiated selection across categories and multi-channel distribution. In a short time, XYXX has created strong brand recall with their relentless focus on product market fit and we are excited to work with them for their next growth phase."

Since its launch in April 2021, ASVF has invested in start-ups across financial services, healthcare and consumer tech sectors. It has backed start-ups, including D2C meats brand FreshToHome, re-commerce company Cashify, health-tech Fitterfly, content-to-commerce company The Good Glamm Group, wealth management firm Smallcase and fintech firm M1 Xchange.  

Manu Chandra, founder of Sauce.vc stated, "We have witnessed XYXX's growth from inception to becoming one of the top 3 national premium men's innerwear brands today. This round of funding sets the company on a strong footing for the next few years. We believe profitability emerges from depth in scale and we admire the team's tenacity in sticking to and scaling its core category."

Sauce.vc, a first cheque investor and partner in consumer brands, has backed brands like Mokobara, Supertails, Innovist, Perfora and The Whole Truth. It is currently investing out of Seed Fund 2, from pre-seed to Series A and via the currently open Sauce Continuity Fund into winners from the first two seed funds from Series A onwards.

Dhruv Kapoor, a partner at Anicut Capital, said, "The men's innerwear category is witnessing a dramatic shift from being perceived as a mere essential, driven by the need to an aspirational fashion-forward category. XYXX is leading this shift in India with a strong focus on product innovation and supply chain. The brand's omnichannel approach has paved the way for comprehensive general trade, modern trade, marketplaces and D2C strategies and XYXX shows great potential to accelerate growth on all fronts."

On further expansion plans, Kabra stated that to sustain its current hyper-growth trajectory, the start-up would immediately focus on expanding in scale and scope. General trade will remain its most important sales channel as it goes deeper within existing markets. 

"We will launch our Silver Cotton-made range of innerwear in an array of signature XYXX designs across channels opening up the brand to a completely different market and consumer set, backed by our extensive retail and online distribution network. In line with our goal to build brand salience, we are also looking to strengthen EBO presence across the west and south of India," Kabra added. 

Anicut Capital, a multi-asset financial institution with offerings in debt and equity, currently manages two debt funds (GAF-1 and GAF-2), Anicut Angel Fund and Anicut Opportunities VC Fund. Cumulatively, it manages an AUM of Rs 1600 crore with equity and debt investments in early and growth-stage start-ups. Its portfolio companies include brands like Neemans, Bira, Sugar Cosmetics, Earth Rhythm, Wingreens, Blue Tokai, Sharechat, Mcaffeine, Milkymist, XYXX, Curatio Healthcare, Agnikul and Grip Invest.